Updated: 12:16 PM EST
Thar She Blows!
Decomposing Whale Explodes on Taiwan Street



Reuters
The whale died on a beach Jan. 17. Due to decomposition, the whale’s organs burst from its belly on the way to a laboratory.


TAIPEI (Jan 29) - The decomposing remains of a 66-ton sperm whale exploded on a busy Taiwan street, showering nearby cars and shops with blood and organs and stopping traffic for hours, local newspapers said.

The 56-foot dead whale had been on a truck headed for an autopsy at a university earlier this week, when gases from internal decay caused its entrails to explode in the southern city of Tainan.

The whale had died after it was beached on the southwestern coast of the island.


01/29/04 07:09 ET