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05-05-2005, 08:55 PM
IKI, Nagasaki -- A 78-year-old man died here, apparently from poisoning caused by eating a puffer fish that an acquaintance gave him, police said.
Police identified the victim as Katashi Baba, a resident of Iki.
Iki Police Station officials said a fisherman Baba knew gave him a type of puffer fish called tora fugu in Japanese, and at about noon on Wednesday, he prepared it and put it in a bowl of miso soup.
However, after eating it, Baba's hands, feet and tongue went numb, and he was taken to hospital at about 3 p.m. that day. He died at around 6:30 a.m. the following morning.
Baba had lived with his wife. She did not drink the miso soup.
Although puffer fish are considered a delicacy in Japan, they contain a deadly poison, and it can be dangerous for unlicensed cooks to prepare them. Baba did not hold a puffer fish license.
Police identified the victim as Katashi Baba, a resident of Iki.
Iki Police Station officials said a fisherman Baba knew gave him a type of puffer fish called tora fugu in Japanese, and at about noon on Wednesday, he prepared it and put it in a bowl of miso soup.
However, after eating it, Baba's hands, feet and tongue went numb, and he was taken to hospital at about 3 p.m. that day. He died at around 6:30 a.m. the following morning.
Baba had lived with his wife. She did not drink the miso soup.
Although puffer fish are considered a delicacy in Japan, they contain a deadly poison, and it can be dangerous for unlicensed cooks to prepare them. Baba did not hold a puffer fish license.