Filipino peace-keeper felled in E. Timor - by snake bite

In war-ravaged East Timor, a Filipino peace-keeper was spared the bullet, but not the bite -- of a snake.

FN2 Johnson Briola, a Navy fireman, was bitten by a snake while working in an engineering construction site in a remote village in East Timor last Wednesday, the Armed Forces announced yesterday.

The Armed Forces said Briola is under observation at a hospital in the island's capital Dili. The hospital is operated by the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET).

Briola, of Navy "C" Company, Philippine Battalion, is stationed in Natarbora Village, Mantuto District.

He was reportedly working in a site at Upper Manehat in Natarbora Village at around 3:40 p.m., when the snake bit him.

Briola was immediately given first aid by UNTAET doctors before a military truck took him to point near Mota Molara River in Umabaco, Natarbora Village.

He was picked up by a helicopter and taken to the UNTAET hospital.