British safari guide trainee killed by black mamba in South Africa

Rex

A British student who was training to be a safari guide in South Africa was bitten and killed by a black mamba snake, according to an inquest.

Nathan Layton, 28, from Wing in Bedfordshire, was bitten as he was putting the snake in a glass jar at the Wildlife College in Hoedspruit in March 2008.

And now, an inquest in Dunstable has heard that Mr Layton, who'd left Britain to go on the course with his girlfriend in January 2008, didn't even realise he'd been bitten.

The snake had been spotted in a corridor near a classroom, so Mr Layton helped instructor Nellie De Kock to put in a glass jar - safely away from the students.

According to the BBC, Ms De Kock said that she wasn't aware the snake had bitten Mr Layton, though he did mention it had brushed against him.

She went on to explain how around an hour later Mr Layton complained of blurred vision and a few seconds later he collapsed on the floor; he was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering a cardiac arrest.

A post-mortem examination revealed that he had died from snake bite poisoning, and coroner David Morris described it as 'a great tragedy'.


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