Panic at Riyadh airport as cargo of 300 cobras escapes

Agence France-Presse ^ | August 1, 2002

[Selmo]

Panic hit the Riyadh airport when 300 live poisonous cobras escaped from a passenger's luggage, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Al-Jazirah quoted eyewitnesses and officials at King Khaled International Airport as saying the cobras escaped after a customs officer insisted that the man, who had flown in from Cairo, open his suitcases for a search.

Mohammad al-Dakheel, head of the airport's customs, said the snakes were killed in cooperation with the ministry of agriculture.

He declined to say how many the snakes had slithered free, but eyewitnesses estimated it at around 300.

It was not immediately known why the passenger, whose nationality was not disclosed, was carrying the snakes. No injuries were reported.

The paper did not say if the man was arrested.

[Alouette]

They could mingle very easily with the rest of the population, couldn't they?

[dennisw]

>>>>>>

[cardinal4]

Snakes always return home to where their from.

[joesnuffy]

Carvelle family reunion?

[dennisw]

Muslim snake alert and humor break. Start your day off with a laugh. Maybe those wacky Wahabbis have some of those snake chuckers in their mosques.

[Prodigal Son]

Panic hit the Riyadh airport when 300 live poisonous cobras escaped from a passenger's luggage,

Well, if anything could cause a panic, I imagine 300 Cobras spilling out of a guy's suitcase would. Hell, I'd panic. I'd have made 'em a new exit to the place.

[piasa]

Are cobras part of some apocalyptic plague we should know about?

[Alouette]

Photo here

[HangThemHigh]

That's a fake. No forked tongue.

[LibKill]

I'd pay good money for the video. :)

Kinda have to wonder. What did the moron want with 300 egyptian cobras?

[Jeremiah Jr]

Well thats one way to keep people from going through your luggage!

[Ken H]

It could have been worse.

What if the cobras had gotten loose when the plane was airborne?

[Physicist]

I want to know why nobody thought it looked peculiar when it was x-rayed in Cairo.

[xJones]

Mohammad al-Dakheel, head of the airport's customs, said the snakes were killed in cooperation with the ministry of agriculture.

We should stand in a moment of silence with the Saudi ministry of agriculture who killed the cooperating snakes. Three hundred slithering cobras and nobody started snake-dancing in the airport.

[xJones]

Hell, I'd panic. I'd have made 'em a new exit to the place.

And I would have led the way.

Indiana Jones: "Snakes, I hate snakes.

But this does raise the question of how do you stuff 300 cobras into luggage? Do you fold them neatly and put them between the underwear and the jogging pants? Exactly what fatwa would cover this? There are internet Islamic Q&A websites. In the name of Muhammed, may Allah be pleased with him, how do I pack my snakes?

[Ken H]

Very carefully, I should think.