A holidaymaker has died after he was bitten in the leg by a venomous spider nesting in a restaurant’s wicker chair in Brazil.
The victim, named only as Vinicius, had been holidaying with six pals in Cairu, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, on 9th July when they stopped for a meal at a beachside restaurant after a boat trip.
As Vinicius settled down on a wicker sofa on 9th July one friend warned him that the cane chairs are the favourite nesting spot for a local deadly brown spider.
The friend reportedly pointed out a spider’s cocoon on the wicker but he sat there anyway.
The next day, say his friends, he fell seriously ill with chest pains and breathing difficulties and by the time they got him to hospital the flesh around the bite had begun to turn black.
Hospital pictures show how necrosis had begun to spread over his entire calf as the spider’s powerful neurotoxin took hold.
Local media reports that he fought for his life for five days but died in hospital on 14th July.
One pal, who was not named, told local media how he had warned Vinicius to keep away from the cane sofa at the coastside Sambass Cafe.
He said: “It was on this little wicker sofa, man. I even told the guy to take it off.
“That’s their cocoon. He sat on the little sofa and I sat on a separate chair.”
The cafe owner, also not named, said: “This has never happened in 20 years, we have not had any news of this, no client came to us, no one looked for us, no one asked for help.”
Staff are reportedly checking in-house CCTV security footage to see how and when Vinicius was bitten.
It is unclear which spider bit the victim but Brazil’s two brown-coloured spiders, the brown widow and the wandering spider, are among the most deadly on Earth.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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