Paramedics were called out this afternoon to assist a worker “held hostage” by a snake in the MTN tower near the Port Control Room in Richards Bay.

“The man had climbed up the tower to do work but when he wanted to come down‚ he spotted a snake of more than a metre blocking his exit‚” Netcare’s Chris Botha said in a statement.

A Netcare base manager was called to the scene and had to climb up the outside of the tower to get to the worker.

Using a rope rescue system‚ he brought the man safely to ground level.

The rescuer clambered down the inside of the tower and caught the snake. The snake was later released into a nearby bush.