Creeping cobra forces residents out of flats
Escape artist: The two-metre cobra snaking down from a flat.
BUKIT MERTAJAM: A snake charmer had to be called in when freaked out residents of a four-storey flat saw a cobra slithering out of a window on the third floor.
“We could see the two-metre snake looking for a way back into a unit on the third floor. We contacted a snake charmer. He caught the snake and took it away in a gunny sack,” said businessman Shaharudin Ahmad, 46, who lives at the Taman Pauh Jaya flats.
It is believed that the reptile, which was kept inside the third floor unit, was used in shows. Apparently, it escaped from its enclosure yesterday.
The unit owner could not be contacted and the flat’s doors were locked.
Caught: A resident holding the captured snake.
Residents who spotted the snake crawling on the outer wall immediately alerted other dwellers and fled their homes. When they gathered at a courtyard, they could see the snake making its way into a unit on the second floor through a window.
“We began calling people to get out of their flats. Everyone gathered to wait for experts to catch the snake,” Shaharudin said when met at the scene.
Images and videos of the snake were recorded and widely shared on social media.
When contacted, the Fire and Rescue Department said it was not alerted about the incident.
Penang Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) director Loo Kean Seong said they would find out whether the snake was indeed being kept in one of the units.
.jpg)
