Flying cows sink boat

A HERD of cows sank a Japanese fishing boat when they dropped like rain from 20,000 ft.

The crew of the cutter, all of whom survived uninjured, told rescuers their bizarre story -- and were promptly arrested for suspected marine insurance fraud.

"One moment we were fishing without a care in the world," said one of the crew. "The next we were being bombed by these cows.

"One of them hit our ship and went straight through the deck and hull and capsized us."

The incident, close to the Russian island of Sakhalin, was confirmed when Russian and Japanese officials began an investigation. They discovered that a Russian army plane had been flying over the Sea of Okhotsk, to the north of Sakhalin -- where the flotilla of boats were fishing.

Interrogation of the crew revealed that a platoon of soldiers had comandeered the plane to steal the cows and then sell them.

One investigator said: "The cows were unacustomed to air travel. They became agitated inside the transport plane.

"The plane was a large one of the type normally used to parachute military hardware and personnel into the battlefield.

"The soldiers feared a mid-air stampede by the cows and they opened the rear door to save themselves. The cows then jumped to their deaths."

A German embassy spokesman learned of the incident two days ago as routine intelligence via e-mail from one of its consulates in eastern Russia.

Elizabeth Sommia, the embassy Press secretary, then confirmed the story to the German media -- initially to demonstrate the insecurity of Russian air space.