Father describes the moment he helplessly watched as his son was mauled to death by a tiger shark at a beach in Egypt, report says

• A 23-year-old Russian man was killed by a shark in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Hurghada.
• His father said he watched helplessly as the "meat grinder" animal killed his son in 20 seconds.

The father of a 23-year-old man who was killed by a tiger shark in Egypt described the moment he helplessly watched his son being mauled to death.

"We went to the beach to relax," Yury Popov, a Russian national, told the Telegram news outlet 112. "My son was attacked by a shark. It all happened in seconds."

A video of the attack shows his son, Vladimir, flailing in the water and calling out "papa" as the shark circles him. People on the beach can be heard screaming in horror. Another video showed people swimming in the water, racing to escape the horrific scene.

Popov said that the situation was all the more shocking because it happened at what he thought was a safe beach.

"What kind of help can you give? This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds. He was just dragged under the water," Popov said.

Egypt's environment ministry confirmed that a man had been killed by a tiger shark in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada on Thursday.

Vladimir had moved to Hurghada with his father and bought an apartment a few months prior, according to the Russian outlet Baza.

Some reports said that Vladimir's girlfriend escaped the waters and witnessed the attack from the beach — but this has not been confirmed.

Other videos show the animal being captured and taken to shore.

Tiger sharks commonly reach 10 to 14 feet in length and weigh from 850 to 1,400 pounds.

Egypt's environment ministry said that the shark displayed "abnormal behavior" and would be studied to determine whether the animal was linked to previous shark attacks.

There were two deadly shark attacks in Hurghada last year: a Romanian woman and an Austrian woman were killed within days of each other near the area.

It's rare for sharks to attack humans. Only five of the 57 unprovoked shark bites that were reported last year were fatal, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File.

Sharks have been known to attack humans when confused or curious, and scientists have said there is no objective evidence that sharks bite humans because they want to eat them.