2013 New Brunswick python attack

An African rock python killed two boys in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada on August 5, 2013. The boys, who were aged four and six, were sleeping in an apartment above their friend's father's pet store. The python – which had been in a specially made enclosure in the apartment – had escaped, crawled through an air duct, and fallen through a ceiling tile above where the boys were sleeping. Following the incident, the python was euthanized. The python's owner was charged with criminal negligence for not preventing the deaths, but was found not guilty in a jury trial in November 2016.

The African rock python is one of the five largest snake species in the world (along with the green anaconda, reticulated python, Burmese python and amethystine python). At least two other examples of humans killed by an African rock python have been reported. A ten-year-old boy was reportedly killed and swallowed in South Africa in 2002, and a three-year-old boy was reportedly strangled by a 7.5 foot (2.3 m) African rock python in Centralia, Illinois in 2000. A closely related species, a Burmese python, reportedly strangled a 28-year-old Brampton man in 1992.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the python escaped from its enclosure in the apartment and entered the living room where the boys were sleeping via the ventilation system. The python was approximately 4.3 metres (14 ft) long and weighed 45 kilograms (100 lb). The boys, ages 4 and 6, were brothers who were visiting their friend, whose father owned a pet shop below the apartment where they were staying.

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Wikipedia