Avatar kills Taiwanese man

3D excitement beyond endurance

Blockbuster movie Avatar has added to its impressive list of accomplishments - which to date include inducing suicidal despair, attracting Golden Globes, provoking civil unrest and creating a plethora of Pandoras - by killing a Taiwanese man overcome by the 3D experience.

According to AFP, the 42-year-old cinemagoer, surnamed Kuo, had a history of high blood pressure and suffered a stroke while watching the film in in the northern city of Hsinchu.

He was taken to hospital unconscious, where a scan revealed "his brain was haemorrhaging". He died 11 days later.

Emergency room doctor Peng Chin-chih told AFP: "It's likely that the over-excitement from watching the movie triggered his symptoms."

The China Times reported that the incident represented "the first death linked to watching James Cameron's science-fiction epic". ®