Ninety passengers aboard an Egypt Air flight from Cairo to
Kuwait could have used actor Samuel L. Jackson this week after a snake
reportedly bit a Jordanian man who smuggled the reptile onboard.Jackson's
character in the movie "Snakes on a Plane" tries to figure out how to
save the aircraft after crates of hyped-up serpents started killing the
cast.
There wasn't quite that kind of drama on Monday, but the
incident forced the pilot to make an emergency landing in the Egyptian
resort town of Al Ghardaqa on the Red Sea, according to The Jordan
Times.
An Egypt Air official told the paper an investigation
revealed that the 48-year-old passenger, who owns a reptile shop in
Kuwait, had hidden the Egyptian cobra in a carry-on bag. The passenger
was trying to control
the snake after it bit his hand and started
slithering under the seats.
The Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm
reported that the man refused medical treatment, claiming his wound was
only superficial. The plane resumed its flight to Kuwait after local
authorities confiscated the snake.
Doctors told the passenger he
should spend 24 hours in a hospital for observation, but the man
refused, the Egyptian Air official said, according to The Jordan Times.
Egyptian cobras are commonly found across North Africa.
According
to wildlife experts, the cobra's venom is so deadly it can kill a
full-grown elephant in three hours or a person in about 15 minutes. The
venom destroys nerve tissue and causes paralysis and death because of
respiratory failure.
Legend has it that in ancient times, the
Egyptian queen Cleopatra used an Egyptian cobra - also known as an asp -
to commit suicide.
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