LAST PERFORMANCE: He dies after one of the two reptiles he was holding at a show bit his arm
ALOR STAR: A SNAKE charmer was bitten by a king cobra while performing in a show at Uptown bazaar in Stadium Darul Aman here on Wednesday night.
Wan Muhd Fazlan Wan Ahmad, 24, died at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital’s intensive care unit at 2am yesterday.
It was learnt that during the 10pm incident, the victim was holding two snakes during a performance. Suddenly, things went horribly wrong after one of the king cobras bit his right arm.
Wan Muhd Fazlan was rushed to the hospital but died four hours later.
His family declined to comment when met at their home in Tongkang Yard yesterday.
“He is already gone, we have nothing more to say,” said one of his relatives.
Wan Muhd Fazlan’s family sells traditional medicine at Uptown and uses the snake- charming show to attract customers.
Ophiophagus hannah or king cobra is the world’s longest venomous snake with a length of 5.6m to 5.7m.
It is capable of delivering a fatal bite because of its poisonous venom.
Among the symptoms ofa king cobra bite are severe pain on the spot bitten, blurred vision, drowsiness and paralysis.
The venom, if injected, can lead to cardiovascular failure, causing a victim to fall into a coma and/or dying of breathing difficulties caused by respiratory failure.
It takes only half an hour for its venom to cause death.
The most recent case involving the king cobra was reported in Seremban in June when Mohamad Norfaiz Mohd Nor, 21, a school gardener was bitten on his left hand at his house.
Norfaiz survived but the snake’s venom had robbed him of the use of his left arm.
-NST
