Python swallows Indonesian man whole
JAKARTA, Indonesia (KTRK) -- **WARNING: IMMENSELY GRAPHIC VIDEO - Video appears at bottom of this story**
A 25-year-old Indonesian man was swallowed whole by a python on the island of Sulawesi.
A six-minute video shows villagers slicing open the python's carcass to reveal the legs and torso of the dead victim.
At first, the video is blurry and difficult to make out. A bunch of men standing around a python begin slicing its belly down the middle. It soon becomes apparent that something of note is inside the giant snake, but it's not immediately clear what has drawn so much attention.
Then you see it: An entire grown man, swallowed whole, lies dead inside the python.
**WARNING: IMMENSELY GRAPHIC VIDEO - Video appears at bottom of this story**
According to local news reports, the body found inside the 23-foot-long snake turned out to be 25-year-old Akbar, a harvester who worked on a palm oil plantation on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. He was reported missing on March 26.
Junaedi, the secretary of Salubiro village in West Sulawesi province, told The Associated Press that villagers began searching for Akbar on Monday night after realizing he hadn't returned from working on his palm oil crops the previous day.
Junaedi said Wednesday that the search party found scattered palm oil fruit, a picking tool and a boot, and then spotted the engorged python.
"When its stomach was cut, we first saw his boot and legs near the neck," Junaedi said. "It seems he was attacked from behind because we found a wound on his back."
Reticulated pythons grab onto their prey with dozens of sharp curved teeth and then squeeze it to death before swallowing it whole.
A 2015 study found that, contrary to popular belief, pythons and other constricting snakes such as boas and anacondas don't suffocate their victims and instead kill by cutting off their blood flow, a method that ends life much more quickly.
They are widespread in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia.
Reports of humans being killed by pythons are extremely rare. In the wild they are known to eat monkeys, pigs and other mammals.
Junaedi said Akbar's absence wasn't noticed until Monday because his wife was visiting her parents in another province. The alarm was raised when his uncle called on him and found his house locked.
Like many Indonesians, Junaedi uses one name, as did Akbar.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
**WARNING: IMMENSELY GRAPHIC VIDEO - Video appears below**
