A tourist has been injured by a snakebite at Mayabi waterfall in Jaflong, one of Sylhet's main tourist spots. It happened at noon on Wednesday (26 June) while he was visiting Jaflong with friends.

The injured tourist is Mohammad Sanaullah, son of Naimul Haque of Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila. Jaflong tourist police said the snake was not venomous and he is now out of danger.

Eyewitnesses and tourist police said that around noon on Wednesday, Sanaullah and his friends went to Mayabi waterfall at Piyain, one of Jaflong's main sites. Ignoring a ban by tourist police on duty there, they climbed to the top of the waterfall, where a snake bit Sanaullah on the leg. Sanaullah pulled the snake off and came down the waterfall, but fell ill. Tourist police immediately rescued him and took him to the Jaintiapur upazila health complex, from where he was sent to Sylhet after first aid.

Mohammad Ratan Sheikh, in charge of the tourist police Jaflong zone, said that when a tourist was bitten by a snake, he was immediately rescued and sent to hospital.

He said police members on duty make constant loudspeaker announcements telling visitors not to climb to the very top of the waterfall, and the tourist police have also put up several billboards as a warning. Even so, many over-eager tourists want to climb to the top, which occasionally leads to unwanted accidents.

The Facebook page of the tourist police Jaflong sub-zone said the snakebite patient at Mayabi waterfall is out of danger, the snake was not venomous, and there is no cause for fear.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.