and-a-half-meter long snake caused panic during prayers at a mosque on the Sumeira to Hail road Sunday when it slithered in among worshippers during Isha prayers. According to Okaz newspaper, members of the congregation managed to corner the serpent and reportedly availed themselves of “sticks and metal rods found at the mosque to beat the serpent to death before returning to complete their prayers”. A father and son asleep in their home in Mahd Al-Dhahab Saturday, meanwhile, were bitten several times by a “fang-bearing” snake and taken to a local hospital with their condition described as “serious”. Al-Madina newspaper said that the scaly intrusion led to panic and screams that woke up neighbors who managed to capture the snake and took it with the bitten victims to Mahd Al-Dhahab Hospital believing that its identity would assist doctors in administering the correct antidote. Hospital staff, however, were not appreciative of the gesture, and called in police to oblige the well-meaning visitors to remove the snake from the facility.
