Giant Swordfish Impales Man

ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - A giant swordfish hooked off the Mexican coast jumped into the fisherman's boat and stabbed the man through his abdomen, a hospital spokesman says.

Dr. David Mendoza Millan of the General Hospital in the Pacific resort of Acapulco said Jose Rojas Mayarita, 39, was reeling in the 10-foot marlin on Saturday when the fish leaped from the waves and landed on him.

The marlin's spear pierced the fisherman's abdomen and came out the other side. Rojas drifted for two days in his boat, unable to get up, until another vessel rescued him.

He was treated on Monday and was under observation in hospital.

Friday February 22, 2002 11:40 AM ET

Man Stabbed with Swordfish in Fight

MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida fisherman was recovering on Friday after being stabbed with the bill of a swordfish during a fight with another man, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Police arrested Frank Ashmus, 46, and Garth Spacek, 42, on Thursday after the two fishermen allegedly started fighting near a dock in Madeira Beach, a small city on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Police said that after Spacek hit Ashmus in the head with a beer bottle and left, Ashmus went to Spacek's apartment and stabbed him in the abdomen with a sharp detached bill of a swordfish.

"We don't see this kind of thing very often," said Pinellas County Sheriff spokeswoman Marianna Pasha.

Both men were drunk, according to police.

Ashmus and Spacek were held without bond on charges of aggravated battery. Spacek was in fair condition, Pasha said.