Chef dies after cobra bites him - 20 minutes after its head was cut off

A chef killed an Indochinese spitting cobra to make a rare delicacy in Guangdong but the snake exacted its revenge 20 minutes later, when its decapitated head bit the man as he was disposing it into a bin. 

Police say chef Peng Fan died before he could be given life saving anti-venom in hospital, reported The Daily Mail. 

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

"There was nothing that could be done to save the man."

Commotion

Restaurant guest Lin Sun, 44, who was in the restaurant 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.

'We did not know what was happening but could hear screams coming 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.

'After we heard that we did not continue with our meal.'

The Mirror reported that ​s​nake expert Yang Hong-chang - who has spent 40 years studying cobras - said all reptiles can function for up to an hour after losing body parts, or even their entire body.

'It is perfectly possible that the head remained alive and bit Peng's hand,' he said.

Source: Daily Mail, Mirror