Indonesian man swallowed by 8.5-meter python while tending chickens

The 63-year-old man from the Indonesian province of Southeast Sulawesi, who had been reported missing, was found inside the belly of the python 8.5 meters long, a local official confirmed, as reported by the Indonesian news agency Antara.

The body of the victim was discovered at 2:30 p.m. last Saturday in Majapahit Village, Batauga Subdistrict, according to Laode Risawal, Head of the Emergency and Logistics Division of the Regional Disaster Management Agency of South Buton, a regency located on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi.

Risawal explained that the victim had been missing since Friday morning after failing to return home from his plantation.

He said residents became suspicious when they encountered an unusually large python in the plantation. Believing it was struggling with something inside, they killed it, only to find the missing man inside.

Police chief Masud Gunawan said: "The victim said goodbye to his family, saying he was going to feed his livestock, but he did not return home," Metro reported.

A video circulating online from the scene shows locals carefully slicing open the python to retrieve the victim’s 1.6-meter-tall body, while family members looked on in anguish.

Risawal, head of the local emergency and disaster response unit, said the incident was unprecedented.

"This is the first time a human was eaten by a python in this area. Recently, pythons have indeed been appearing more frequently in people’s homes and gardens. We have warned residents to be careful when they go into the forest alone for work," he said, as cited by Metro.