A pop star in Indonesia died in the middle of a stage performance after she kept singing for 45 minutes despite being bitten by a cobra.
Irma Bule, who was well known for using snakes on stage shows, died on Sunday in bizarre circumstances. The 29-year-old was under the impression that the king cobra that bit her had been defanged.
The the incident took place in the village of Karawang, West Java.
A snake handler rushed to Bule's help after the cobra bit her on the thigh and pulled the reptile away from the singer. By then, the cobra had injected its lethal venom. The pop star continued her performance for the next 45 minutes, before vomiting and collapsing on stage.
According to a member of audience, Ferlando Octavion, the incident took place when the singer accidentally stepped on the snake's tail. She said: "The accident happened in the middle of the second song when Irma stepped on the snake's tail. The snake then bit Irma on the thigh."
"The effects were felt 45 minutes after the bite. She vomited, had seizures, and her body seized."
Despite the bite, Bule refused to take treatment and continued her performance. Bule even refused an antidote from a snake handler, as reported by Jakarta.coconuts.co.
Irma's mother was in distress and admitted that her daughter was unaware that the snake was not defanged. She also went to reveal the singer started using snakes in shows three years ago and suggested they were her trademark.
"My daughter might not have known that the snake that was given to her for the show was a dangerous cobra. She was told she could wear it, even though its mouth was not closed with duct tape," Iram's mother Encum said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
"They were her trademark. I don't know what started her off using a snake, but she would wrap it around her neck while dancing and sometimes she would wrap it around the music player."
Check the tragic viedo below: [WARNING: The video may be distressing]
