A YEAR-and-a-half-old baby boy died on Tuesday after being bitten by a snake.

Erongo region crime investigations coordinator Erastus Iikuyu confirmed the incident, saying it happened around 01:30 in the morning at Otjohorongo village in the Omaruru district.

Baby Nghitukutate Antonio was sleeping when the snake bit his right thumb.

Iikuyu says Nghitukutate started crying and later became weak.

He died on the way to the Omatjete Clinic near Omaruru, where an antivenom was to be administered.

Iikuyu said the baby’s family members found a zebra snake in the family room and killed it.

“It is suspected the zebra snake bit the child. The snake was collected for further investigation,” he said.

Namibian Marshall Ranger Sean Naude says snakes are very common during the rainy season in rural areas and at farms and lodges, because their habitats (holes in the ground) become flooded.

“Snakes move into houses looking for dry, warm areas to hide. I urge people living in rural areas, and at lodges and farms to always check for snakes under their beds and in their shoes before going to sleep,” he says.

Naude believes this was an accidental bite as the snake may have mistaken the baby’s warm body for a rat.

Zebras snakes are some of the deadliest snakes in the world.