Snakes charmed from Egyptian hospital

CAIRO (Reuters) -- A hospital in southern Egypt has turned to snake-charmers to help get rid of snakes and scorpions terrorizing patients and staff.

"The snake-charmers have caught six snakes and a scorpion since the campaign began on September 13," said Mursi Mohamed Mursi, university hospital director in Assiut, 320 km (200 miles) south of Cairo.

He told Reuters snakes were sighted in corridors and air vents after renovation work at Assiut University Hospital. Experts said the reptiles were not poisonous.

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