A four-meter (13-foot) African rock python which strangled two young Canadian boys as they slept has been euthanized, and police said on Tuesday they have launched a criminal probe into the deaths.
Noah and Connor Barthe, aged 4 and 6, died after the snake escaped from its glass cage through a ceiling-level ventilation shaft, slithered through ductwork and crashed through the ceiling into the room where they were sleeping.
"It's a criminal investigation because two young boys lost their lives," Alain Tremblay, a sergeant with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told a news conference.
"It's very serious," he said, adding that it would take time to gather the necessary evidence to present to the prosecutor.
