A snake approximately two meters long alarmed residents of a village area in Kçiq, Mitrovica, today, prompting the intervention of the Fire and Rescue Brigade, who immediately went to the scene and removed the reptile from the building where it had entered.

Fire and Rescue Brigade sergeant Sami Beqiri explained to KosovaPress how the intervention took place.

“We were notified through 112; a citizen reported that a large snake had entered a building in the village of Kçiq… we went there, caught the snake, pulled it out, and placed it in another location… it was about two meters long,” he said.

Such interventions are not frequent in Mitrovica, according to the deputy commander of the Fire and Rescue Brigade in the municipality, Sabri Abazi.

He said such cases mostly occur in two specific areas, which include two pairs of neighboring villages. The first area is Kçiq and Shupkovc, while the second is Zhabar and Koshtovë.

“They are rarer, but there are interventions where we are called to remove them from houses, basements, and premises, and sometimes more frequently… in Mitrovica, interventions are often requested in the villages of Kçiq, Shupkovc, Zhabar, and Koshtovë,” he said.

The deputy commander Abazi also stated that firefighters in South Mitrovica have personal protective equipment for interventions involving the removal of snakes and other reptiles, but that they still lack additional equipment that would make the interventions easier.

“We have gloves, helmets, boots—these are used during interventions, so we are not afraid of snakes, and today we had such a case… there is special equipment, but it has not yet arrived to us,” he said.

KosovaPress also visited the owner of the building where the snake was found, but he refused to provide details.

A few days earlier, a snake had also entered a nearby market in Shupkovc village, causing panic among staff. A security worker intervened by spraying it with repellent, after which two women experienced discomfort and required medical assistance.