Snakes On A Train



(Quang Ngai, Vietnam) The train from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi stopped in Quang Ngai and hundreds of passengers fled in panic. Dozens of deadly cobras had been smuggled on the train.

A guard and conductor were checking tickets as passengers got on in the central city of Quang Ngai on Thursday evening - and spotted the live king cobras and cobras under a seat.

People fled the carriage as panic broke out, and the smuggler was able to escape in the chaos.

The reptiles - which are extremely venomous and can kill a human within just 30 minutes - were being carried in four see-through cloth bags.

One passenger, Pham Van An, 20, said: "Some of the snakes were very big, and looked terrifying. Most people ran away. But some people went to look at them and the cobras rose up.

"Then police took the snakes off the train."

Officers handed the snakes over to Quang Ngai province's wildlife protection officers for release into the wild.

The Vietnamese like to eat the snakes but they are considered endangered and protected under national law.