A 64-year-old man from Binh Phuoc Province, southern Vietnam passed away on Monday after he was bitten by a venomous snake and did not seek professional treatment.

Police in Binh Phuoc Province said on Tuesday that they were investigating a case where a local man, D.H.D., living in Dong Xoai City, died after being bitten by a Indochinese spitting cobra.

On Saturday last week, D. spotted a one-kilogram snake in front of his house and used his bare hands to catch the reptile.

The snake bit his right hand before he captured it in a plastic container.

After that, D. did not go to the hospital for emergency treatment as he believed it was a non-venomous snake.

The next day, B.V.T., 38, a neighbor of D., passed by the victim’s house and confirmed the reptile was a poisonous Indochinese spitting cobra after listening to D.’s incident and seeing the reptile.

T. immediately checked the snakebite on D.’s hand and saw that it was swollen.

T. then rode D. to another local’s house to treat the bite using home remedies instead of going to the hospital.

However, due to his severe injuries, the victim died on Monday. 

According to doctors, the Indochinese spitting cobra, whose scientific name is Naja siamensis, belongs to the Elapidae family.

This species has a light green body, measures 0.2 - 1.5 meters in length, weighs 100 - 3,000 grams, and can spit a stream of venom.

This reptile frequently lives in dry, highland places such as termite mounds, burrows, or near rural houses such as under woodpiles, under chicken or pig coops, and holes surrounding the house to hunt for prey.

Indochinese spitting cobras are prevalent in Vietnam's southern, south-central, and Central Highlands provinces. 

The alarming problem is that despite the fact that Indochinese spitting cobras' venom is incredibly lethal, individuals are hard to identify, posing a life-threatening risk.

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