NEWS STRAITS TIMES (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 02 December 06 Snake king Ali Khan dies (Shahrul Hafeez and P. Chandra Sagaran)
Kuala Lumpur: Snake King Ali Khan Samsuddin, who mesmerised audience playing with snakes and scorpions, has died after being bitten by a King Cobra.
The 48-year-old was bitten on his left hand by a six-metre long King Cobra while performing at a snake show here on Tuesday.
He was given outpatient treatment at Kuala Lumpur Hospital because his condition was reported to be not serious.
Ali Khan, staying with his brother, had on Thursday night complained of feeling weak, had swellings on his body and his arm became dark. He died at 1am yesterday morning.
He was buried at Kampung Jambu Muslim cemetery in Taiping.
His son, Amjad Khan, 21, said his father had telephoned the family to tell them that he had been bitten by the snake but advised them not to be alarmed because he was all right.
"This morning (Friday) we were told that he had died," said Amjad, as he broke down and had to be consoled by relatives in their Taman Bersatu home in Taiping.
It was barely a year ago that Ali Khan had allowed Amjad to do snake charming shows solo.
He said he now planned to carry on his father’s legacy.
Amjad said his father had been in snake shows for 25 years, and was inducted into the Guinness World Records in 1998 after living with 6,000 scorpions for 21 days.
Seven years ago, he created another record, staying with 400 cobras for 40 days.
His feats earned him the title Raja Ular or Snake King.
Ali Khan leaves a wife, Mau Boh Bee Dastagir, 48, and five children.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Saturday/National/20061202101244/Article/index_html

THE STAR (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) 02 December 06 Snake king Ali Khan dies from cobra bite (Christina Koh)
Photo at URL below: Daring Feat: Ali Khan receiving a ‘kiss’ from a cobra during a performance at a snake exhibition at the State Museum in Kota Baru in a May 14, 2000 file photo. (Bernamapic)
Taiping: Malaysia’s snake king Ali Khan Samsudin, 48, died as he had lived – handling the reptiles that he loved.
His eldest son Amjad Khan, 21, said his father had been performing at a show in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday when he was bitten by a King Cobra.
Ali Khan, who regularly performs with his beloved snakes for charity and for a living, died at 1am yesterday at Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he had been recuperating.
Amjad Khan related that when his father contacted him on Tuesday to tell him he had been bitten, the family had not been too worried.
“He had been bitten by snakes many times before, including three times by King Cobras. The first King Cobra bit him in Taiping when he was 21.
“So we didn’t think anything would happen. I was just relaks saja (calm),” said Amjad Khan at their flat in Kampung Boyan here yesterday.
On Thursday night, his condition took a turn for the worse. Family members here received a call from Amjad Khan’s uncle to go to the hospital.
“We rushed from Taiping at 11.30pm, but by the time we arrived he was already gone. We didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye,” said the son.
“Maybe his body couldn’t take it any more because of his diabetes.”
He leaves behind five children aged 13 to 23 from wives Mau Boh Bee, 48, and Jumabee Mohd Ibrahim, 33. Amjad Khan, who also works as a snake handler, said he would continue his father’s work despite the tragedy.
“Many of my father’s shows have been cancelled, but this is a trade that has been passed down for five generations,” he said, adding that his uncle Husein Dasthagir, 48, also worked with snakes.
“It’s our way of life and we can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Well known for his daring feats with cobras, Ali Khan had also made it into the 1997 Guinness Book of World Records, living in a glass enclosure filled with more than 5,000 scorpions for 21 days. He set another record by living with 400 snakes for 40 days.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/2/nation/16206464&sec=nation

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