Freak accident kills boy

2005-07-12 07:56

Kuala Lumpur - An eight-year-old Malaysian boy choked to death when a fish he caught leapt into his mouth and become lodged in his throat, newspaper reports said on Tuesday.

Samiun Ahmad caught the 7cm fish from a pond at his neighbour's house on Monday but as he played with it, it flipped out of his hands and into his mouth, the New Straits Times said.

"He wanted to show off his catch to his older brother, Umaidi, and a friend. He was so excited with his catch," his father Ahmad Johari was quoted as saying. "We never thought something like this could happen."

The boy's mother Sa-arja Deumali told the Star newspaper that she was bathing when the incident happened.

"Samiun's brother told him not to stir the water since the fish might jump out. Several minutes later, he heard Samiun screaming and clutching his throat," she said from northern Kedah state.

The neighbour, Aslinda Mohamad Salleh Khan, her 12-year-old son and Samiun's 10-year-old brother attempted to dislodge the fish as they rushed him to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

- AFP