A crowd in front of a luxury hotel in Bali, Indonesia watched in horror as a 13-foot python strangled a security guard to death while his friends were too terrified to help, the Agence France-Presse reports, and officials warn that the snake is still on the loose.
Ambar Arianto Mulyo, 56, was attacked early on Thursday morning by the python at the Bali Hyatt. The incident took place "on the roadway outside of the hotel's property," as Jamie Zimmerman Rothfeld, a spokeswoman for the Bali Hyatt, told CNN. Mulyo succeeded in catching the snake before it entered the hotel property, but was unable to stop it from wrapping itself around his neck and strangling him.
"The victim died on the spot as his neck was crushed and he could not breath," Gusti Ngurah Yudistira, the head of the police criminal investigations unit covering the Sanur area, told AFP, warning that the animal is still somewhere on the hotel grounds as police could not catch it even after an extensive search.
"We urge residents and tourists to stay on the alert," Yudistira said.
Mulyo's body was brought to a local hospital on Friday and has been released to his family.
"The management team and hotel associates of Bali Hyatt express their sincere condolences to the family of the victim of the python attack," Rothfeld told CNN.
