This is the terrifying moment a huge cobra was caught in a nursery school in Thailand.

Footage shows animal handler Rattapong Khongkhem dragging the venomous snake out of a cabinet in the building in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on December 19.

Teachers and schoolchildren screamed as the deadly 7ft creature was hauled out of its hiding place. It was sealed inside a sack and later released into its natural habitat.

The snake wrangler said: 'The king cobra was hidden inside the cabinet. It was quite fierce, making it difficult to catch.'

A school teacher said staff were busy cleaning the nursery after recent floods when they heard loud hissing coming from the cabinet.

She said: 'We thought it was just a small snake, but it turned out to be a king cobra. I'm scared just thinking about it.'

The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) had raised a warning for 'heavy to very heavy' rainfall in southern Thailand from December 13 to 16. The department said a strengthening northeast monsoon would prevail over the Gulf of Thailand and the southern region.

Researchers found that 7,000 people are treated for snake bites each year in Thailand. Suchai Suteparuk from the Division of Toxicology at Chulalongkorn University reported that 30 of those die, with cobras being the biggest killer.