Story filed: 11:18 Friday 29th June 2001

The monsoon has hit Nepal with extra venom this year, with 18 people dying of snake bites since the onset of the seasonal rains in the west of the country.

Among the latest victims are a couple who died after being bitten by a highly poisonous krait snake while they were asleep in their village.

The couple were treated with traditional medicines in their village as there was no time to take them to a hospital, the Kathmandu Post says.

(continued below)

Even if bite victims can reach hospital quickly, there is no guarantee that they can survive the venom of snakes like the krait and cobra, which are found in the Terai lowland region of western Nepal.

American soldiers in Vietnam used to call the krait the 5 Step. The logic was that if you got bitten by a krait you would take five steps and then die

Officials at a district hospital in the area said 17 people had been admitted with snake bites, of whom four died on Thursday.

At the Tikapur-based Primary Health Centre in southwest Nepal officials said two people died of snake bites on Wednesday.

Various health centres and hospitals around the region have reported 10 more deaths since the monsoon began on June 3.

Copyright © 2001 Ananova Ltd

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