It was an eye-for-an-eye of the tiger.
Footage captured the moment that beachgoers brutally clubbed a tiger shark to death as revenge for a Russian tourist who was killed during a “meat grinder” shark attack off a popular Egyptian resort.
[Warning: Viewer Discretion Advised]
In the savage footage, a group of boaters is seen lashing a large tiger shark that they caught to the side of their boat.
The clip then cuts to a mob of people surrounding the predatory fish on the shore as a man beats the beached beast — which appears to still be alive — with a metal pole as onlookers yell and cheer.
The clip concludes with the cameraman posing for a selfie as the savage scene unfolds in the background.
The vigilante mob was reportedly attempting to avenge the death of 23-year-old Russian ex-pat Vladimir Popov, who was devoured by a tiger shark in front of horrified beachgoers while swimming in the Red Sea off a seaside resort in Hurghada.
Popov’s father Yury said they had “gone to the beach to relax” when all of a sudden, his son “was attacked by a shark,” CEN reported.
An eyewitness said that the attack happened close to shore near a ladder that swimmers use to descend into the sea.
“At one point, the shark appeared, and immediately bit this man,” they said. “Rescuers saw this and began to start the boat. He tried to swim away from the shark, but he couldn’t.”
In the bone-chilling video, Popov can be seen splashing about in the ocean before getting dragged under as horrified onlookers scream for help.
“It’s eating his remains now,” an eyewitness who filmed the incident can be heard saying in the background.
According to CEN, the victim had yelled, “Papa….save me” to his father before getting yanked underwater. “This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, he was just dragged under the water,” recalled the deceased’s distraught father, who witnessed the brutal attack. “What kind of help can you give?”
Bystanders claimed they tried to rescue Popov but to no avail during the horrifying ordeal, which reportedly sent beachgoers running out of the water.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses claimed the shark toyed with the Russian’s body for two hours after the killing.
Yury said it took a long time to locate his son’s corpse and bring it ashore. After the remains were finally found, “the body was put in a bag and taken to the morgue,” he said.
Thankfully, Popov’s girlfriend, who was reportedly next to him at the time, was rescued, along with two other girls and is reportedly back in Russia.
Separate footage shows one of the rescued women sobbing on the beach moments after the fatal attack as two other women console her.
It’s yet unclear if she was related to Popov. So far, the victim’s father, Yury, is the only family member to make a statement.
Egyptian authorities have since confirmed they caught the shark responsible, and handed it over to researchers, so they could investigate the cause of its abnormal behavior.
Scientists also aim to determine whether this tiger shark — a species responsible for the second-most attacks on humans after great whites — was also involved in several other incidents in the area.
As of now, it’s unclear if this shark and the one filmed getting clubbed are the same animal.
Popov’s devastated dad deemed the attack “an absolutely ridiculous coincidence.”
“It is such a safe beach,” Yury declared. “There are ships and yachts around. It’s never happened there. They usually attack on wild beaches.”
“It is just some kind of evil fate,” added the heartbroken father, who pledged to cremate his son and return the ashes to Russia.
The duo had reportedly been living in Egypt for several months, sparking speculation that Popov had been attempting to avoid being enlisted in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
While attacks are fortunately rare in Red Sea coastal regions, last year, sharks killed two women — an Austrian and a Romanian — just days apart in another popular tourist spot in Hurghada.
