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Snakes on plane go missing

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-17 10:56

A Qantas airliner was grounded after four snakes went missing from the cargo hold on a passenger flight from Alice Springs to Melbourne, officials said yesterday.

Twelve baby pythons were packed on the Boeing 737-800 in the outback town on Tuesday, but when it arrived in Melbourne, there were only eight, Qantas said in a statement. Corporate manager David Epstein told public radio the snakes had been packaged in a tied calico bag inside a Styrofoam box with air holes punched in it. "The only conclusion we could draw was four of them had broken free of the packaging," Epstein said.