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BANGKOK, Thailand, (AP) - Police said Monday that six Thai fishermen who died at sea last week had eaten poisonous parts of blowfish.
The ovaries, liver and intestines of the blowfish, also known as globefish or puffer, contain tetrodotoxin, a poison so potent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it can ``produce rapid and violent death.''
The fish is called fugu in Japan, where it is consumed by thrill-seeking Japanese gourmets for whom the risk of poisoning adds piquancy.
The bodies of the six Thai fishermen were brought back in the cold storage of their own 15-meter (50-foot) trawler, police said. The ship, with a total crew of 18, had been fishing in the high seas off Indonesia since last month and returned to the Thai seaport of Samut Prakarn, just south of Bangkok, on Monday.
The fishermen died March 5 after suffering stomach pains and vomiting shortly after they ate the fried entrails of blowfish, police said.
``A survivor said the victims used to eat blowfish before, but
last week when they tried its entrails they apparently were fatally
poisoned,'' Police Lt. Sucharn Yodbon, told The Associated Press.
He said police would investigate further to confirm the cause of
death.
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