Cobra’s severed head kills chef

A Chinese chef cooking a special soup dish made from cobra flesh died after he was bitten by the severed snake’s head while throwing it into the dustbin– 20 minutes after it was cut off.

The chef, Peng Fan was preparing the rare Asian delicacy which uses the flesh from the Indochinese spitting cobra when the snake’s severed head bit him with a full dose of venom, The Mirror reported.

Fan died before he could be treated in hospital by using the cobra’s anti-venom, police said. The Cobra has neurotoxic venom which means it attacks the organs and heart rather than just the site of the bite itself. Without the anti-venom to counter the effects, victims will normally be dead within one to three hours depending on the size of the victim and the amount of venom injected by the snake.

“It is a highly unusual case, but it appears to be just an accident,” a police spokesman said. “He prepared the snake himself and was just unlucky.

The police stated there was nothing that could be done to save the Chinese chef. As the snake’s anti-venom was not administered in time, the patient obviously died.

Diners who were eating in the restaurant at the time of the incident described screams coming from the kitchen.

Lin Sun, 44, who was dining with his wife Su said: “We were in the restaurant having a meal for my wife’s birthday when suddenly there was a lot of commotion and screaming from the kitchen”

“There were calls for a doctor in the restaurant but unfortunately by the time medical assistance arrived, the man had already died.” Most diner left the tragic scene of the restaurant without finishing their meals.

According to a local snake expert Yang Hong-Chang, all reptiles can function for up to an hour after losing their primary body parts.

While the snake was clearly dead, there are still some reflexive re-actions which resulted in the the body-less head biting the Chinese chef, Peng.

“It means snakes have the capability of biting and injecting venom even after the head has been severed.” said the snake expert.