A 29-year-old Indonesian pop star has died after being bitten by a king cobra she was handling as part of her performance.

Irma Bule was singing at a party in Karawang, West Java on Sunday night when it’s understood she accidentally stood on the snake which hadn’t been de-fanged.

It was removed by a handler nearby who tried to administer an anti-venom but Bule refused and carried on with the performance.

A member of the audience said: “In the middle of the second song, Irma stepped on the snake’s tail. The snake then bit Irma in her thigh.”

Around 45 minutes later she started to vomit and suffer seizures.

She was taken to hospital but was later pronounced dead.