Tourist dies after ‘cobra’ bites his leg when snake charmer lets it crawl into his trousers as part of show in Egypt
A tourist vacationing in Egypt died after being bitten by an animal thought to be a cobra during a snake show in Egypt.
The 57-year-old man was attending a demonstration in Hurghada with three other members of his family when a snake charmer allowed the reptile to crawl up his trouser leg.
According to some reports in Germany, tourists were able to hold snakes and wrap them around their necks during a demonstration held at a hotel in early April.
However, the snake charmer allowed one of the animals, thought to be a cobra, to climb onto the Bavarian tourist’s trouser leg.
The unnamed man was later bitten by the snake and, according to police, began to show clear signs of poisoning.
He then suffered a heart attack and had to be resuscitated before being rushed to hospital, where he tragically died.
The prosecutor’s office and criminal police in Memmingen were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.
According to a police spokesman, the investigation is not focusing specifically on the snake charmer at this time but is being conducted openly.
A 57-year-old man was bitten and killed by what is believed to be a cobra while attending a snake-charming demonstration in Egypt with three other members of his family.
Seaside resort of Hurghada, Egypt, where man was killed (stock)
The results of the toxicological examination were still awaited.
Hurghada is a popular Red Sea resort, but has long been associated with devastating incidents, including shark attacks.
In December 2024, an Italian tourist was mauled to death by a tiger shark in front of his helpless wife off the coast of Egypt.
Gianluca Di Gioia, 48, from Rome, was snorkeling on the beach in front of the magnificent Red Sea Sataya Resort on the Marsa Alam coast before the attack on December 22.
The tourist, who works for the European External Action Service, the European Union’s diplomatic service, was at sea with his friend Giuseppe Fappani, 69, as Di Gioia celebrated his birthday recently.
But the trip took a terrifying turn when the pair were approached by a tiger shark in Egyptian waters while swimming just 50 meters from the beach, in an area where the resort’s pier allows tourists to access beyond coral reefs.
Fappani managed to get back to shore, but Di Gioia was caught in the predator’s jaws and later died from his injuries.
In June 2023, a tiger shark killed a 23-year-old Russian citizen in Hurghada.
Vladimir Popov, 23, was surrounded by a ‘meat grinder’ tiger shark before being dragged underwater and shouting ‘Dad, save me!’ he shouted.
Holidaymakers fled the water as horrified onlookers called out to Vladimir to swim before the shark mauled him to death.
The tiger shark was later captured, dragged ashore by boat, and then bludgeoned to death on the beach ‘in revenge’.
More recently, a tourist submarine sank in Hurghada last March, claiming the lives of six people.
The Sindbad submarine, with dozens of tourists on board, dived with its hatches open.
While at least six Russians, including two children, lost their lives, 39 people were rescued, nine of whom were injured.
