Tue August 19, 2003 10:51 AM ET
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian teenager died of
suffocation after a fish he caught jumped out of his hands and lodged in
his throat, newspapers reported on Tuesday.
Lim Vanthan, 17, and his family were planting rice at
the weekend near their home on the outskirts of the impoverished
Southeast Asian nation's capital, when they decided to go for a swim.
During his dip, Lim Vanthan caught a prized eight-inch
fish, called kantrob in Cambodian, with his hands.
But the high school student's excitement was
short-lived when his catch squirmed out of his hands and jumped into his
mouth, where it became stuck because of barbs running down its back.
He died of suffocation before he could receive
treatment at a local clinic, the newspapers said.
"This is an accident, but it shows we must all be
careful," concluded the Khmer-language Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of
Cambodia) newspaper. "Accidents can happen at any time." |