Python in Swimming Pool Scares Bathers in Malaysia

A four-meter-long python wallowing at the bottom of a swimming pool in a Malaysian private club sent bathers running, a report and staff at the club said Thursday.

A woman who dived into the pool spotted the enormous snake resting under a steel ladder on Tuesday, national news agency Bernama reported.

Eight other people, including children, were swimming in the pool at the club in Seremban town, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the capital Kuala Lumpur, when the alarm was raised, it said.

The club's management called the fire department, which removed the python. No one was injured.

Bernama quoted a fire department spokesman as saying the snake may have slipped into the pool from nearby bushes to cool itself, as the weather was hot.

Pythons are common in tropical Malaysia, but attacks on humans are rare. It was not immediately clear what type of python was in the swimming pool, but the reticulated python can grow to more than eight meters in length.

The fire department was not immediately able to comment. A club official confirmed the snake was safely removed.