Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Swedish newspaper says a man who was bitten by a crocodile that once belonged to late Cuban leader Fidel Castro has had his arm amputated.
The Aftonbladet tabloid says 79-year-old Lars Liedegren was told doctors had to amputate above the elbow after he put his arm the wrong side of the glass enclosure at the Skansen Aquarium, part of the zoo on Stockholm's Djurgården island, during a private party.
The crocodile jumped up and bit his arm, holding on for about 10 seconds.
The newspaper quoted Liedegren Thursday as saying that he spent three weeks in the hospital.
The rare Cuban crocodile is one of a pair that Castro gave to a Russian cosmonaut in 1978. They lived in Moscow Zoo until they were sent to Stockholm in 1981.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.