Swordfish kills Saudi swimming in sea

A Saudi man died after ‘colliding’ with a pointed a fish resembling a swordfish while he was swimming in the Gulf sea, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Police said the fish had apparently been attracted by a searchlight carried by the victim while he was swimming in a banned area on the eastern coastline of the Gulf Kingdom.

The incident took place on Thursday night and is reminiscent of the death of famous Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin, who was killed six years ago by a stingray.

Irwin, who died at the age of 44 years, was filming a documentary in Queensland in 2006 when he came face to face with a stingray.

The fish suddenly turned and pierced him in the chest with its tail spine, in what appeared to have been a defensive response to being boxed in.

“The Saudi man died as a result of severe bleeding in the neck after the fish struck him there. It seems the fish had been attracted by the searchlight,” the Saudi Ajel newspaper said, quoting coast guard spokesman Colonel Khaled Al Arqoubi.

He said the victim had defied a ban on swimming at night in such areas, adding that such types of fish swim near the surface and are easily provoked by artificial light.

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