Egypt's shark attack spate - 'meat grinders', missing tourists, sinister remains

A dad was powerless to help as his son was torn apart by a shark dubbed the 'meat grinder' and killed in just 20 seconds as he looked on from the shore.

The devastated man had to listen to his son cry "papa" as he desperately fought for his life off a beach near the city of Hurghada, one of Egypt's Red Sea resorts.

A short while later, a group caught a large tiger shark they believed to be responsible and beat it to death.

Shark attacks in the area were once thought to be rare, but at least three tourists have died in the last two years alone. Here we take a look at the country's most harrowing incidents...

Egypt's Red Sea resorts, including Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, are popular beaches for tourists and locals thanks to their blue waters and coral reefs.

But in 2022, there were two fatal attacks within days - killing an Austrian and a Romanian tourist.

Elisabeth Sauer, 68, died in an ambulance from "shock" after losing an arm and a leg in a horrific attack at Sahl Hasheesh, a popular bay close to Hurghada.

Chilling video footage showed her desperately swimming back to shore after the attack at the resort which is popular with British tourists.

The Austrian woman's blood was seen in the water as she struggled to make her way back to a pier using a flipper.

A large crowd watched the drama but no one was seen entering the water to help the woman.

Other reports said tourists rushed out of the water and tried to "distract the shark from the victim."

One onlooker said: "People are rushing out of the sea. There's no ambulance, there's no one helping her.

"She's got no arm - up to her elbow. The shark grabbed her and twisted her around."

In one video, others were heard exclaiming: "Where are the rescuers? F***, she's covered in blood. The shark bit her arm off.

"Where's the rescue team? Where's the shark? Lifeguards? Where are the lifeguards?

The woman made it to the shore but then died from extreme shock caused by the vicious attack.

"Doctors fought for her life for a long time, giving her cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but she could not be saved," said one account.

Just two days earlier, a Romanian woman had gone missing from her hotel, the 5* Premiere Le Reve in Hurghada.

According to sources at the upmarket venue, her "disfigured" body was only found afterwards when it was washed up on coral.

Tourists claimed the recovery team stopped them filming the macabre scene as her ravaged human remains were packed into body bags.

One eyewitness claimed: "Half of her body was missing."

Another tourist heard speaking in a beachside bar recounted what he has just seen.

"It was obviously a corpse," he said. "[Killed by] a shark…

"They put [the human remains] in bags. Five minutes ago. There are six policemen there.

"An electric car drove up, they put it there, right in the bags.

"The car stalled, they pushed it out. Damn... this is the second [shark victim] already.

"Photos and videos were not allowed. Police ran up saying: 'Erase. Erase. Erase'."

In 2018, a Czech died after being attacked by a shark in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt.

The remains of the Czech man were found on a beach near Marsa Alam, according to local media.

City council chairman General Atef Wagdy said the man died "as a result of an attack by a shark" and added that people who swim on the surface in deep waters beyond the coral are vulnerable to attack.

Czech media said the man was 41 and was reportedly staying n the popular resort town with his wife and children.

And in 2015, a German tourist was killed when a shark bit off the 52-year-old man's leg at the knee.

The attack took place off the coastal city al-Qusair, and it was the first such incident in five years.

In the most recent attack, on Thursday, June 8, a 23-year-old named by Russian media as Vladimir Popov was killed in a horrifying attack.

The incident was captured on camera, and the video shows the maneater circling a young man close to a beach before devouring him as he cries out in panic.

The man had gone swimming off one of the resorts near Hurghada when a tiger shark emerged in the waters and grabbed him.

The nearly minute-long video shows Vladimir being suddenly pulled down into the water.

He briefly resurfaces and desperately fights off the shark as they duel in the sea.

His body can be seen bobbing up and down in the water, as his legs spin in the air, while the shark's fin and tail are visible as it circles the victim.

Vladimir screams "Papa" as the shark comes back in to attack. But in seconds the water around him goes red.

Another video allegedly shows the tiger shark being caught and dragged ashore by a boat. Seemingly alive, the shark is then clubbed to death.

A diver who arrived on the scene just after the attack said people had rushed to help the victim after a lifeguard from a nearby hotel raised the alarm, but sadly they were too late.

Russian Consul-General Viktor Voropayev told state-owned TASS news agency that the Egyptian authorities had confirmed to him the death of the Russian national who was born in 1999.

"The victim was not a tourist, but a permanent resident of Egypt", Voropayev told the news agency.

Tragically, Vladimir's father was on the shore and saw his son's death unfold.

"We went to the beach to relax", Yury Popov told the 112 media outlet.

He continued: "My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds. What kind of help can you give? This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, he was just dragged under the water."

Later in the video, one person standing on the shore is heard saying "It is eating his remains now."

"It's a terrible thing, the remains of this guy are over there. I'm shaking. Right in front of my eyes, the shark ate that guy. I think I need a drink. I feel really bad", a woman told the Telegram channel Baza.

Vladimir's girlfriend managed to escape the water, according to Yury.

One witness told Russian station REN-TV: "It happened in a second. Rescuers reacted very quickly. For some reason, I immediately felt that it was a shark. I immediately jumped up and started shouting: 'Sharks, sharks! Save yourself!' Nobody understood yet'."

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