French backpacker dies after being bitten by brown snake in Mallee Region

A French backpacker has died after reportedly being bitten by a highly venomous brown snake while he was on a working holiday in regional Victoria.

A French backpacker has died after reportedly being bitten by a snake while he was on a working holiday in rural Victoria.

The 25-year-old man was working as a casual grain harvester in Nullawil, a small town in the Mallee region 470km northwest of Melbourne, when he was believed to be bitten by a highly venomous brown snake.

Emergency services were called to a property about 7.45pm on October 24 after a friend on the farm found him unresponsive.

He was flown to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne in a critical condition, suffering from cardiac arrest.

It is understood the man’s life support was switched off two days later.

The man was working as a casual grain harvester in Nullawil when he was believed to be bitten by a highly venomous brown snake. Picture: iStock

The owner of the Access Grain site where the backpacker was employed, Wade Humphreys, said the man was found with puncture wounds on his ankle.

Mr Humphreys said the death was a “real tragedy”, he told the ABC. He said it was unclear whether the man was bitten while working at the grain receival or somewhere else.

A Victorian Police spokesperson said a report will be prepared for the coroner.

“The exact cause of the man’s death is yet to be determined however it is not being treated as suspicious. WorkSafe are investigating,” they said.

WorkSafe was contacted for comment

It comes as a man in his 60s was also killed by a suspected brown snake in North Queensland in September.

The man died after being bitten as he tried to uncoil the reptile from a friend’s leg near Mackay.

The brown snake is considered the most venomous snake in Australia and the second deadliest in the world.

Snake bite fatalities have become relatively rare in Australia since the introduction of the anti-venom program. About two people per year die after being bitten by a snake.