Indonesian pop singer Irma Bule died after a cobra bit her on stage during a concert on Sunday.
“The accident happened in the middle of the second song when Irma stepped on the snake’s tail,” audience member Ferlando Octavion Auzura told Merdeka, a local website. “The snake then bit Irma on the thigh.”
According to another local newspaper, witnesses said that Bule didn’t seem affected at first and actually “refused an antidote from the snake handler.”
Bule, 29, was known to perform with snakes, and this time brought out a king cobra, which she thought was defanged. Rather than seeking medical attention, Bule continued to perform for 45 minutes before collapsing on stage.
“The effects were felt 45 minutes after the bite,” Ferlando said. “She vomited, had seizures, and her body seized.”
The pop star was taken to a hospital but later died.