A singer in Indonesia died after she was bitten by a cobra she was handling as part of her act, but not before finishing her routine and leaving the stage, news reports said today.

Irma Bule, 29, was singing at a party in Karawang, West Java, on Sunday night when the cobra she brought on stage bit her on the thigh, the Republika daily reported.

“She was bitten when she was doing a second song and died early Monday,” a friend of the singer named Didi was quoted as saying.

She joked with her friends after finishing the second song but moments later she collapsed, Republika said.

She was taken to a hospital but died of the snake bite.

Didi said Irma, a local singer, often sang and danced with a snake as part of her stage routine.

- dpa