A tour guide has miraculously cheated death after a six-metre python coiled itself around his neck just moments after it pulled him underwater.Â
Heru, an experienced snake catcher, was part of a group travelling down a river on the island of Borneo in Indonesia.
He spotted the enormous six-metre snake resting close to the riverbank and reached into the water to grab the python near its head.
In terrifying footage of the near-death experience, the snake is seen pulling Heru off the boat and into the water, where he disappears under the surface.Â
After he surfaced, the terrified guide frantically surveyed the surface for the python while holding his head tightly to stop it from biting him.
The giant python then quickly started to coil its thick body around the guide’s torso before wrapping itself around his neck.Â
The boat crew, who initially laughed when Heru fell into the water, immediately sprung into action and tried to wrestle the python from the guide’s neck.Â
It took two men, one holding the python’s head and another its tail, to finally free Heru from its grasp.   Â
The sheer strength of the python pulled snake catcher Heru into the water. It was only seconds until the beast had wrapped itself around his neck
The group were travelling down the river in Indonesia when they spotted the six-metre snake
The snake was eventually captured and brought onto the boat, with the crew taking photos with it before finally setting it free unharmed.Â
Mohamed Alisa, who filmed the terrifying ordeal, said the python was the ‘biggest’ and ‘strongest’ the group had ever seen.Â
‘This was one of the biggest and strongest pythons we have encountered. It was released after. Our principle is not to harm living creatures,’ he said.Â
‘Photography is purely for scientific purposes.’
Thankfully, Heru was unscathed in the interaction and did not suffer any injuries.
Borneo, Indonesia, is home to several python species including the Borneo short-tailed python and the Reticulated python.Â
These non-venomous constrictors have adapted to the island’s rainforests and floodplains.
Reticulated pythons in Borneo can reach lengths of six metres, the longest in the world, and can be found throughout southeast Asia.
It took two other men, one grabbing the python’s head and the other its tail, to free Heru from its grasp after it coiled itself around him underwater
The longest reticulated python on recorded was 10metres long and was found in Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 1912.Â
As it is a non-venomous species of snake, the python ambushes its prey, biting it with its strong jaw before wrapping its body around and suffocating it.Â
The powerful and agile predator is known to be capable of swallowing prey – much larger than itself – including livestock and in rare cases even humans.Â
During the hot season, when the python’s natural habitat is disturbed, it travels into residential areas in search of food and have often been found in sewers in populated areas of Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Terrifying moment giant six-metre python coils itself around a tour guide’s neck in Borneo, Indonesia