A Chinese chef was killed by a snake bite 20 minutes after he cut off the snake's head to prepare it for a meal, according to the Daily Mirror.
Peng Fan, of Foshan city in China's southern Guangdong province, sliced off the head of an Indochinese spitting cobra to use the body for snake soup, a delicacy in parts of Asia.
Twenty minutes later, Fan went to toss the snake's head in the garbage. But the snake's head was still active and it bit the chef, killing him before he could be rushed to a hospital to receive an antidote for the venom, the newspaper reported Friday.
Patrons at the restaurant where Fan worked, which was not named, said they heard screams coming from the kitchen.
"There were calls for a doctor in the restaurant but unfortunately by the time medical assistance arrived the man already died," Lin Sun, who was in the restaurant with this wife, said according to the Daily Mirror. "After we heard that we did not want to continue with our meal."
Indochinese spitting cobras, also known as Naja siamensis, are named after the way venom is spewed from the mouth. Reptile experts say the animals can move for up to an hour after the head is severed.
"It is perfectly possible that the head remained alive and bit Peng's hand," said Yang Hong-Chang, who studied cobras for 40 years, the newspaper reported. "By the time a snake has lost its head, it's effectively dead as basic body functions have ceased, but there is still some reflective action.
"It means snakes have the capability of biting and injecting venom even after the head has been severed."
In China, snakes are frequently used in meals at upscale restaurants and in medicines due to a belief in the meat's healing properties.
Police have determined Fan's death was a freak accident, the Daily Mirror reported.
"It is a highly unusual case but it appears to be just an accident," a law enforcement spokesman said. "He prepared the snake himself and was just unlucky."
