I watched 'meat grinder' shark kill my son in 20 seconds as he screamed ‘papa’ then beast toyed with body for 2 hours

A DISTRAUGHT father has told how he watched his son being ripped apart by a shark "in 20 seconds" at a Brit holiday hotspot.

Russian tourist Vladimir Popov, 23, was mauled while swimming at Red Sea resort Hurghada.

Holidaymakers scrambled from the water and looked on in horror as Vladimir was dragged under by the killer beast.

Vladimir had yelled to his father to save him as he was dragged under by the killer beast, and now the distraught father has told the tale to local news.

One witness claimed the shark had killed him and then toyed with his body for two hours in the water.

Another witness said: "It immediately sawed through him, his legs surfaced quickly, and it dragged the body for two hours."

The young Russian called out to his father for help as he was savaged: "Papa! Papa!"

Distraught dad Yury has now recounted the horror to local news.

He said: "We went to the beach to relax. My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds.

"This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, he was just dragged under the water."

The shell-shocked father added: "This is an absolutely ridiculous coincidence, because it is a safe beach.

"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."

The victim had been living with his father in Egypt for several months, prompting speculation he had been avoiding conscription into Vladimir Putin's cruel war in Ukraine.

The father said he would cremate his son and return the ashes to Russia.

Another witness said: "All this happened not far from a descent into the sea, next to the ladder, used by everyone who went into the water.

"At one point, the shark appeared, and immediately bit this man. Rescuers saw this and began to start the boat.

"He tried to swim away from the shark, but he couldn't."

The 10ft tiger shark believed to have killed him was dragged ashore by fishermen and beaten to death.

Brutal video shows it appeared to be alive as a group of men hit it with clubs.

The carcass was handed over for research into the causes of its abnormal behaviour, reports said.

Scientists also intend to identify whether the shark is related to one that "caused several previous accidents".

Today 46 miles of Red Sea beaches were closed amid fears of further attacks.

Yury said there were no family members around to help him in the water, even though initial reports said Vladimir's girlfriend had managed to flee the jaws attack.

Russian reports say the victim's girlfriend is safely in Russia, but witnesses seemed to think she was with him at the time.

Another source said: "It seemed to us that his girlfriend was next to him, because she screamed very much.

"The rescuers dragged her onto the boat, after which they rescued two more girls.

"They were all taken away by doctors or the police, because they were in [a state of] shock, hysterical…"

The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the death of a citizen from a shark attack.