SHAH ALAM: An eight-foot python strangled a man to death in Kuala Langat, Selangor, near here early Sunday.
The victim had been identified as Zaim Khalis Kosnan, 35.
The incident, which took place at about 3.30am at Jalan Haji Ibrahim, Kampung Jenjarom, was witnessed by several people who eventually killed the python.
The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department who was alerted to the gruesome incident at 4.08am, and deployed seven personnel from the Teluk Panglima Garang station to the scene.
“The team arrived at the scene at 4.12am.
“(But) the victim (had already been) suffocated to death by the 2.4 metre long python, which weighed about 80kg,” said the department’s operations management officer Alimaddia Bukri.
He said Zaim was on his way back home from Sungai Jarom at around 3am, when the incident took place.
“On reaching home, he informed his elder sister that he was going to catch a python, which he had spotted along the road while on his way back.
“It is believed that the victim wanted to catch the python to be sold,” he said.
“Several members of the public at the scene, when enquired, said they tried to help the victim, who was an unemployed widower, but he was killed.
Alimaddia said the body was sent to Banting Hospital for post-mortem.
Images of the python and its victim were posted on social media platforms had since gone viral.