Kasaragod (Kerala) | A four-year-old girl who was admitted to the hospital after being bitten by a snake at West Eleri here died on Thursday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Rithu, daughter of Sharath and Ajitha of Elerithattu.

According to police, the incident occurred on April 27 when Rithu was playing with friends in the courtyard of a relative's house and a ball rolled near a burrow where an Indian spectacled cobra was hiding.

When the child attempted to retrieve the ball, she was bitten by the snake.

Hearing her cries, people rushed to the spot and killed the cobra before taking the child to a nearby hospital, police said.

As antivenom was unavailable there, she was transferred to the Government Medical College Hospital, Pariyaram, in the neighbouring Kannur district.

Police said Rithu remained in critical condition and was under ventilator support.

She died on Thursday morning, police said.

Police said a case would be registered and an investigation conducted.

The body will be handed over to relatives after post-mortem examination, they added.

Around eight persons, including three children, have died in snakebite incidents reported in Kerala over the last 10 days.