"Croc Hunter" pulled barb out of chest before death

SYDNEY, Sep 5 (Reuters) Fatally injured by a stingray, Australian ''Crocodile Hunter'' Steve Irwin pulled its serrated barb out of his chest before losing consciousness and dying, the world-famous naturalist's manager said today.

Video footage of the attack shows Irwin swimming above the stingray on the Great Barrier Reef yesterday when it lashed out and speared him in the heart with its barbed tail, manager John Stainton told reporters.

''It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest),'' Stainton said after watching the footage.

''He pulled it out and the next minute he's gone. The cameraman had to shut down,'' he said.

''It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die ... it's terrible.'' Irwin, 44, the quirky naturalist who won worldwide acclaim as TV's khaki-clad ''Crocodile Hunter'', was filming a new documentary off Australia's northeastern coast when he was attacked.

Marine experts say stingrays can deliver horrific, agonising injuries from the toxin-laden barbs, which can measure up to 20 cm (8 in) in length and cause injuries like a knife or bayonet.

''The strongly serrated barb is capable of tearing and rendering flesh,'' said Dr Bryan Fry, deputy director of the Australian Venom Research Unit.

''It's not the going in that causes the damage, it's the coming out where those deep serrations kind of pull on the flesh, and you end up with a very jagged tear which is quite a pronounced injury,'' Fry said.

News of Irwin's death shocked Australians and Irwin's millions of fans around the world. Prime Minister John Howard interrupted parliament today to pay tribute.

''He was a genuine, one-off, remarkable Australian individual and I am distressed at his death,'' Howard told parliament.

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