Tourist dies after being bitten at snake-charming show in Egypt

A German tourist has died after a snake crawled into his pants and bit him as he watched a show in Egypt on a family vacation, German police said Monday.

The 57-year-old man was watching the snake-charming show at a hotel in Hurghada, a popular beach holiday destination on the Red Sea, in early April.

The two reptiles involved, reported to be cobras, were draped over the necks of audience members, police in southern Bavaria state said.

“The ‘snake charmer’ then let one of the snakes crawl into the trousers” of the German man and it bit him in the leg, they said in a statement.

The victim showed “clear signs of poisoning” and had to be resuscitated before being taken to hospital, but he later died, it said.

The man — who was not named in the statement — came from the Unterallgaeu district in Bavaria and was on holiday with two relatives.

German police and prosecutors are investigating his death and are awaiting the results of a toxicology test.

When contacted by AFP, Egyptian authorities said they were not aware of the incident.

An estimated 5.4 million people worldwide are bitten by snakes each year and up to 138,000 people die globally from the bites, according to the World Health Organization. The majority of fatal snake bites occur in India.

At least three people have died from snake bites in Southern California in just the past two months, CBS Los Angeles reported.

Earlier this month, a woman died after being bitten by a rattlesnake while picking flowers in Palos Veres Estates. In March, a 25-year-old man died after he was bitten by a rattlesnake while biking in Irvine, and a 46-year-old woman died after she was bitten while hiking in Thousand Oaks.