Two boys who were visiting at one of the friends were killed after a snake escaped and strangled them. The boys were sleeping overnight at their friends who lived above a pet store.
A snake was able to escape from his cage at some point and killed the two children in New Brunswick Canada, said police.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in a prepared statement, said it was their belief that the reptile strangled the two boys who were just five and seven.
Police said the snake slipped from its cage during the night and travelled through the building’s ventilation system.
Police were able to capture the serpent following the attack on the children. On Monday, police were called to the apartment where they found the two boys dead.
In the police statement, they said that following a preliminary investigation they were led to surmise that a large snake escaped its cage sometime over night and made its way upstairs through the ventilation system.
The two boys will have autopsies done. The two are thought to be brothers who are just two years apart in age. No one has been charged as of yet with any crime.
In Campbellton, the town where the tragedy occurred, the deputy mayor said everyone in the area was still in shock.
Experts when asked said that exotic snake attacks are very rare.
A director of a Zoo in Canada said it was difficult to believe an attack of that nature occurred since it was very extraordinary and highly improbable.
In a message on Facebook, the store where the snake was kept said its deepest sympathies went out to the family of the two boys.
The business said it was temporarily suspending its account online due to too many users posting comments that were very demeaning.
Early reports said the reptile was a boa constrictor, but officials were able to say later that it had been an African rocky python.