Cape Town-Bound Passenger Suing After Dangerous Spider Bite

A British lawyer on a flight from Doha in Qatar to Cape Town is suing Qatar Airways after being bitten by a highly venomous spider during the flight, according to news reports.

Jonathon Hogg (40) apparently spent a month in hospital in South Africa, where he underwent three operations and a skin graft. He reportedly said the events were “something from a horror film”. He says he is still recovering three months later.

“The pain was like nothing I’ve been through in my life. By the time I got to hospital my leg was bursting open, there was pus, it was black,” Hogg told reporters.

News reports said Hogg was apparently bitten by a brown recluse spider, a highly poisonous arachnid whose flesh-eating venom is potentially deadly. The leg apparently quickly became bruised and swollen.

The reports said he felt the stab of the bite, and then turned on the overhead light only to see a spider running across the floor. One report said that several flight attendants even yelled “Spider!”

Qatar Airways said it had not been advised on any legal proceedings regarding the incident, and could not comment further, according to a news report in the United States.

Hogg had taken five months off work in the UK to travel around Australia, work in an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo and dive with sharks in South Africa.