Needlefish stabs diver to death in Vietnam

A 16-year-old Vietnamese boy has died after being stabbed through the heart by a needlefish as he was diving for seafood in northern Vietnam, a policeman said Monday. The meter-long fish - a type of gar with a long, pointed snout - stabbed diver Duong Trong Anh in the chest as he was diving for sea cucumber, according to Ta Van Quynh, deputy police chief of Halong Bay district, 200 kilometers east of Hanoi. The boy was in 2 meters of water when the accident happened Friday, Quynh said. The boy's diving companions saw the fish stuck in the chest of their friend and pulled the needle-like snout out, the policeman said. "Anh died from the wound soon after," Quynh said. According to Quynh, the fish might have been startled by the divers and tried to swim away but accidently hit Anh with its 15-centimeter-long snout, according to the policeman. "It's a very strange death," the policeman said. "People may get killed by sharks, rarely by this kind of fish." Anh's friends brought the needlefish to the surface with his body and the family is considering burial of the fish alongside the boy, Quynh said. dpa kj jh