A king cobra slithered inside the engine of a car that was parked at a local hospital in Krabi, southern Thailand.

The driver returned from an appointment when she saw the serpent's tail hanging down poking out from under the bumper.

She yelled for help from nurses, who contacted the animal rescue team on Tuesday (March 31) afternoon.

Snake handlers lifted the bonnet and spent 20 minutes finding the serpent, which had wrapped itself tightly around the engine machinery.

Staff eventually pulled the deadly 10ft long snake out with a catching rod as hospital medics and patients looked on anxiously.

The car owner said she saw the snake slithered under her car before it disappeared.

She said: "I had an appointment then came back from lunch and saw the snake had slithered to under the car. I could see it's tail.

"However, it did not appear on the other side so I was sure it went into the engine and I was worried that it might come out later and hurt the staff so I called the rescue team."

A king cobra slithered inside the engine of a car that was parked at a local hospital in Krabi, southern Thailand.

The driver returned from an appointment when she saw the serpent's tail hanging down poking out from under the bumper.

She yelled for help from nurses, who contacted the animal rescue team on Tuesday (31/03) afternoon.

Snake handlers lifted the bonnet and spent 20 minutes finding the serpent, which had wrapped itself tightly around the engine machinery.

Staff eventually pulled the deadly 10ft long snake out with a catching rod as hospital medics and patients looked on anxiously.

The car owner said she saw the snake slithered under her car before it disappeared.

She said: "I had an appointment then came back from lunch and saw the snake had slithered to under the car. I could see it's tail.

"However, it did not appear on the other side so I was sure it went into the engine and I was worried that it might come out later and hurt the staff so I called the rescue team."