Ten firefighters were called out to help catch a
Brazilian wandering spider after it was found in a shipping container in
Germany. Also known as the banana spider, the creature was named in the
Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most venomous.
Mainly found in
tropical South America, the spider's venom will kill in minutes, causing
a lingering death from paralysis, with victims often sporting erections
caused by the toxin as they die in agony.
Customs
officials in Bremerhaven, north west Germany, found the deadly spider
during a routine customs check and immediately alerted the police, who
sealed off the area. To prevent a chance of having a fatal allergic
shock, which is also caused by the spider’s bite, the firefighters had
to wear chemical protective suits and one of them flooded the container
with carbon dioxide from a fire extinguisher.
The spider did not survive and its dead body was safely retrieved.