Escaped python kills two young children in Canada

A python strangled two children in their sleep in eastern Canada after escaping from a reptile shop and slithering through a ventilation shaft, police said Monday, August 5. The two young brothers, aged 5 and 7, were at a sleepover at a friend’s apartment late Sunday, August 4, in the small town of Campbellton. The snake apparently escaped from a pet store specializing in exotic animals located on the floor below the apartment. Autopsies were expected Tuesday but at this stage it is believed the boys were strangled by the snake, which is of a species that constricts its prey and squeezes out its life. The brothers had been guests of the pet store owner, Jean-Claude Savoie, and his young son, and had spent the day playing in a paddling pool, eating barbecue and riding a tractor. The RCMP major crimes section is carrying out a criminal investigation but has not brought charges.

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