A domestic AirAsia flight from Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur to Tawau, Sabah, was forced to divert on Thursday after passengers spotted a snake in an overhead compartment.
The airline confirmed, in a statement to local media outlets, “an incident” on board the flight after a TikTok user posted a video showing the silhouette of a snake moving slowly in what appears to be a plane’s luggage compartment.
“AirAsia is aware of an incident on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau on Thursday,” AirAsia’s chief safety officer Liong Tien Ling told Malay Mail. “As soon as the captain was aware, he made the decision to divert the aircraft to Kuching as a precautionary measure to fumigate the aircraft.
“This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time,” he added.
A spokesman for the airline told Free Malaysia Today that passengers were diverted to Kuching, Sarawak—some 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) away from the plane’s original destination. Airline staff were still searching for the reptile when the aircraft landed in Kuching, according to the news outlet.
All affected passengers then departed Kuching for Tawau later on Thursday, Channel News Asia reported.
Liong said the captain “took the appropriate action” in prioritizing the the safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew.
“At no time was the safety of guests or crew at any risk,” he added.
Newsweek has contacted AirAsia for additional comment.
It isn’t clear what species of snake was on board the flight or what happened to it.
According to the Malaysian Medical Gazette, roughly 18 of 140 snake species in Malaysia are venomous. Venomous species found in the country include the Cobra, the Malayan Pit Viper, the Mangrove and Mountain Vipers, the Striped Coral Snake and the Speckled Coral Snake.
In 2018, Abu Zarin Hussin, a Malaysian man well-known for his snake-handling skills, died after he was bitten by a cobra during a snake-catching operation. Hussin, 33, taught firemen how to catch snakes without having to kill them.
Addressing the issue of snake bites in the country in 2016, then Health Minister Dr. S. Subramaniam advised going to a hospital or a clinic immediately for treatment when bitten.
“Do not do anything like applying compression, cut off the affected part or try to suck out the venom from the affected area. Also, there is no need to tie a cloth,” he told reporters at the time.
“The body movements of the affected region must be reduced and the victim has to be calmed down. All decisions regarding post-bite treatments and whether or not the victim should be given anti-venom would only be made by doctors,” he added.
The post Snake on a Plane Forces Emergency Landing appeared first on Newsweek.
