An Indonesian teenager who was bitten by his pet cobra died less than 12 hours after posting on social media requesting help.
The snake bit the young man, named Aril, while is owner was trying to take a picture of it at his home in Bundung Regency in Indonesia.
The 14-year-old posted the first of two images to his WhatsApp account at 9.50am local time, moments before the bite occurred. The first photo, on 11 December, was captioned 'Why not smile a little'.
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A second picture, posted at 9.54am, showed blood on the boy's right arm, with a shoelace being used as a tourniquet in an attempt to stop the venom from spreading to the rest of his body. He captioned it: 'Between life and death'.
"Aril's status wasn't to boast [about his injury] but to ask his friends for help," the boy's mother, Neuis Marpuah, has been quoted as saying.
According to reports, Aril later wrote: "If anyone considers themselves my friend, please take me to the hospital."
Someone arrived to take him to a hospital an hour later, but he was declared dead by medics at 10pm the same day, with emergency treatment failing to revive him.
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According to local reports, Aril owned more than a dozen snakes.
King cobras measure 10 to 13 feet long and their venom is fatal to humans - one bite alone may give off a dose of 200 to 500mg of venom.
Featured Image Credit: Asia WireTopics: World News