A Chinese chef is dead after having a run in with his specialty dish. Peng Fang from Shunde, a district in the city of FoshanQin southern China?s Guangdong province, had already butchered an Indochinese spitting cobra and prepared the carcass to put in soup when diners heard screams coming from the kitchen.
Apparently, he had picked up the severed head to throw it into the trash, when the head ? chopped from the body for nearly 20 minutes ? clamped down on his hand. One restaurant patron described the chaotic scene. ?We were in the restaurant having a meal for my wife?s birthday when suddenly there was a lot of commotion,? the diner said. ?We did not know what was happening but could hear screams coming from the kitchen.? Unfortunately for the chef, the venom of the spitting cobra is highly lethal. There was no time to get him safely to the hospital to receive the anti-venom.
The police say the attack was just bad luck. ?It is a highly unusual case but it appears to be just an accident. He prepared the snake himself and was just unlucky,? a local police spokesperson said.??There was nothing that could be done to save the man. Only the anti-venom could have helped, but this was not given in time. It was just a tragic accident.?
An expert on cobras also said that while fatal bites like Peng?s are thankfully rare, severed snake heads can attack for up to an hour after being decapitated. ?It is perfectly possible that the head remained alive and bit Peng?s hand,? snake expert Yang Hong Chang said. ??By the time a snake has lost its head, it?s effectively dead as basic body functions have ceased, but there is still some reflexive action.?
Despite the fatal accident, one local said they still plan on enjoying their tasty and highly poisonous snake treat. ?Snake meat is really good for us. It is not so easy to get and is expensive but it has spectacular health benefits,? the local said, despite the chef?s fate