Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

SYDNEY - An Australian man has died after being bitten by a snake while trying to remove the serpent from a childcare centre, local media and emergency services said Wednesday.

Paramedics in the northeastern state of Queensland were called out Tuesday afternoon and found the man in critical condition.

The man was believed to have been bitten by a brown snake, one of the most lethal species in the world.

He was transported to Townsville hospital and later died, a spokesperson for Queensland Ambulance Service told AFP.

Local media reported the man was trying to remove a snake from a childcare centre.

Deaths due to snake bites are rare in Australia, with only a handful of fatal attacks recorded each year.

About 200 people are hospitalized each year due to contact with brown snakes, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

"We have very good quality antivenom in Australia," Christina Zdenek of the Australian Reptile Academy told AFP.

Snakes are most active from September through to January, as the cold-blooded reptiles warm up in the austral summer.

Zdenek said the best way to treat a snake bite is by "staying still, calm and wrapping the whole limb tightly with a stretchy bandage".

"Don't ever try to kill a snake," she added.

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© Agence France-Presse