Man Dies After Deadly Snake Bites His Tongue During Stunt, Video Goes Viral

A 55-year-old man in Russia died of an anaphylactic shock after being bitten by a deadly snake during a stunt performance.

The incident took place last week in the city of Astrakhan. The victim, who has not been identified, was on his third attempt to carry out a trick for workmates in a watermelon field when the snake bit his tongue. In the first two attempts, the man had put the steppe viper down his throat. Despite being poisonous, the snake's venom is not lethal to humans.

After being bitten by the snake, the man was rushed to the intensive care unit of the Kharabalin regional hospital on Sept. 22, Al Arabiya English reported Sunday citing Russian agency Interfax.

The man's tongue “could barely fit in his mouth” and he was left gasping for breath, the Central Recorder reported. “The steppe viper is poisonous, but only insects can truly fear it. For humans, the poison is not dangerous," Central Recorder quoted local media reports as saying. The agricultural worker “died solely from an allergic reaction similar to what may occur with a wasp sting.”

A video of the stunt was posted on social media and quickly went viral.

Several stunt artists across the world try to perform weird acts using snakes, which in some cases can turn fatal if they are handling a deadly reptile.

In July, a video of an elderly man inserting a live snake into his nose and then taking the reptile out from his mouth went viral on social media. The clip, shared by Indian actor Vidyut Jammwal on his Instagram handle, shows the man holding the snake in his hands. He then closes his eyes and slowly begins to insert the reptile into his nose. Within seconds, he pulls out the snake from his mouth. "Incredible peoples (sic). Omg the way he done that after it he is behaving like so normal. It's just amazing and scary to… I would like to thank you for sharing. We should support this kind of people," one user reacted to the video.