Horrifying footage shows the moment a 4ft snake was removed from a Russian woman’s mouth after it slithered inside her while she slept.
The reptile crawled inside her as she slept in the yard of her home in Levashi village in Dagestan, reports say.
Feeling unwell, the young woman was rushed to hospital where she was put under general anaesthetic.
The footage shows the gloved hands of a male doctor removing the snake after inserting a tube down her throat.
As the unusual operation is performed, one of the doctors is heard off camera saying: “Let’s see what this is.”
A female medic grabs the snake with a horrified expression on her face as it is pulled from the woman’s mouth.
She jumps back startled and medical staff scream as they realise the long length of the snake inside the patient.
The reptile is then dropped into a medical bucket, but it is unclear if the snake is still alive or how long it was inside the woman.
The ministry of health in Dagestan, a mountainous republic bordering the Caspian Sea, has not commented.
Locals say such incidents happen infrequently and older citizens advise the young not to sleep outside because of the risk of snakes slithering inside their mouths.
The female patient was not identified, nor was the type of snake specified.
The village of Levashi has a population of 11,500 and is at an altitude of 4,165 ft.
Some commenters claimed the creature could be a parasite or giant worm but it appears too big for this.
Other victims have complained of ‘something alive’ inside them after snakes slithered into their mouths.