“It turned out that the shark was not pregnant, we cut it open and found the head of a person”: shocking details of the death of a Russian 6.11.2023, 8:55

A 75-kilometer section of the coast near the city of Hurghada has become inaccessible for swimming, local officials are strictly monitoring compliance with this ban. Preventive measures caused a fatal incident – 8. 23-year-old Vladimir Popov died in June when a tiger shark attacked a Russian tourist.

The tragedy was witnessed by 23-year-old rescuer Mohammed. On Thursday, he was on duty at the beach with his colleagues. Swimming conditions were perfect that day, he said.

“Suddenly, I saw people on the pier jump up and start looking towards the water. When something like this happens, you immediately understand that something had to happen,” Mohammed said.

Looking at Vladimir, who was desperately waving his hand, the rescuer at first thought that the man could not swim. “When I swam to the man, the water was full of blood,” he said. “Then I saw that he no longer had an arm. And then a shark appeared. I knew right away there was no way to save him. There was a girl in the water. She didn’t move, she was in complete shock. I managed to pull her out of the water and bring her to shore, then immediately swam back to the man.

The lifeguard assured that he had not seen the shark again. All the water was in blood, bitten body parts were swimming in it. “I am traumatized by this event. I haven’t slept since and I can’t think normally,” Mohammed complained.

The shark was caught by two local fishermen with a net. One of them, Hamid, explained that 15 people helped him pull the predator ashore. “At first we were sure it was a heavily pregnant female because the shark’s belly was huge,” the fisherman told Bildu. Khamil and his assistants cut open the shark, inside they found the head and hand of Vladimir Popov.

The student came to the beach with his father. Yuri Vladimirovich admitted that it was impossible to save his son. “This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, it was simply pulled under water,” Vladimír’s father shared his sadness. Sarah Mereshkova, a friend of the deceased, spoke about him.

The shark that killed the Russian just 30 meters from the shore was in an area with water attractions allowed for swimming and could have attacked parents with children. Locals say that the tourists themselves are to blame: you can’t feed the fish, it attracts large predators.

“Enter the water only where lifeguards are on duty to keep sharks from swimming to shore. Now the authorities will do everything to ensure that such a situation does not happen again, at least this season,” said blogger Jehad Elmakhlavi.

After the tragic incident in the Egyptian resort, many Russians wanted to abandon their planned trip to Hurghada, but the law does not oblige tour operators to refund money for tours. “In this situation, since no warnings, no security threats were announced, there are unfortunately no grounds for a return without sanctions,” Dmitry Gorin, vice president of the Russian Tourism Union, explained to TV channel 360. He pointed out that refusal of service with a full refund of funds is possible only with an official notification of a security threat.