A huge snake was reportedly caught by construction workers in Malaysia a few days ago. The snake has died, the country's wildlife officials report, amid concerns that it might have been mishandled.

The reticulated python (Python reticulatus) was said to measure 24.6 feet (7.5 meters long), making it just 7 inches (17 centimeters) shorter than the largest such snake known in captivity. It also weighed a beefy 551 pounds (250 kilograms), officials said, although those numbers probably still need to be independently verified, says Kenneth Krysko, the herpetology collection manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

The big snake was reportedly found last week at a construction site in Paya Terubong on the Malaysian island of Penang. Members of Malaysia’s Civil