Passengers flee as dozens of deadly cobras spotted on train

Hundreds of rail passengers fled in terror when dozens of deadly snakes were found on a train traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in Vietnam. 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.

Nguyen Van Han, chief of the Quang Ngai Forest Protection Department, was unable to say how many snakes were in the bags, but said they weighed a total of 45kg (99lb). Authorities believe the endangered creatures, which are protected under Vietnamese law, were to be sold to restaurants in Hanoi.