Whale kills would-be rescuer in Japan

TOKYO - A Japanese fisherman drowned today after a whale he was trying to rescue capsized his small fishing boat, a coastguard official said.

Three fishermen tried to rescue the sperm whale, about 10-meter long, after it strayed into a bay off the southwestern island of Shikoku, about 800 km southwest of Tokyo.

But the panicked creature turned on them and struck the vessel, the coastguard official said.

A 58-year-old fisherman drowned while two other fishermen were rescued, he added.

- REUTERS