A man in Nghe An died while trying to catch a nearly 3 meter long king cobra alive.

The unfortunate man was Le Xuan Hoa (60 years old, residing in hamlet 3, Lam Hoi village, Chau Hoi commune, Quy Chau district).

According to the victim’s family, at around 9:30 p.m. on September 21, Mr. Hoa was about to go to bed when he heard a rooster crowing in the kitchen. When he went into the kitchen to check, Mr. Hoa was shocked to see a long black king cobra.

Mr. Hoa then chased and caught the snake, but it coiled around him and bit him. Mr. Hoa’s wife immediately called the neighbors for help.

Image of the king cobra that bit Mr. Hoa to death being captured by local people. Photo: Thanh Le

Mr. Hoa was quickly taken to the emergency hospital, but due to the severe wound, the king cobra was large and had strong venom, so he quickly suffered from respiratory and circulatory failure. The district and regional hospitals gave a poor prognosis and transferred the patient to Hanoi for treatment.

However, on the way to the upper level hospital, Mr. Hoa died. On the morning of September 22, his family took him home to take care of the funeral procedures according to local customs.

Mr. Lang Anh Ty - Chairman of Chau Hoi Commune People's Committee said: "The snake was about 3 meters long and weighed nearly 2 kg. The victim was a long-time poor household in the village, in very difficult circumstances."