COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh -- Hundreds of people gathered to see a 22-foot (6.7-meter) long whale that washed up along Bangladesh's Teknaf Beach and walked off with a slice of its meat each, Reuters quoted police as saying on Sunday.

The whale beached on Friday night during high tide and was stuck up in the sands for hours before dying, a police officer at Teknaf, on the tip of Bangladesh 90 km (60 miles) from Cox's Bazar resort, told reporters. It weighed about 300 kg (661 lb), he said.

He said the visitors cut the dead whale with knives and took away its meat which they said they would use for making animal fat oil, used for medicine.

Two giant whales died along the same Bangladesh beach in 1988 and 1990, police and local residents said..