Three-year-old boy rides python during deadly floods in Vietnam

Incredible pictures show a three-year-old boy riding a giant PYTHON during a FLOOD.

The enormous 20ft long snake had been kept as a pet at the family’s home in Thanh Hoa province, northern Vietnam.

Horrific floods swamped the country this week, causing hundreds of thousands of homes to be submerged and so far killing at least 54 people.

But the youngster, named Truong, could not contain his excitement as his parents took the chance to let the snake play in the ankle-deep water filling their flooded yard in the Ha Long commune in Ha Trung district.

Doan immediately leapt into the deadly creature and straddled its back to begin riding it - giggling adorably as he ‘’giddies up’’ like a horse on the 80kg beast.

Pictures of the incident went viral with many claiming they were edited - but the lad’s family replied with a video proving it was real.

The boy’s aunty, An Nguyen, said: ‘’He is three years old and the python is 80kg.

‘’The family have had the python for four years as a pet and it is very gentle.

‘’It was a rainy day and the water flooded to the edge of the yard. So they put the python in there to play and relax.’’

The floods lashing Vietnam this week are the worst in the country’s history with at least 54 dead and dozens more missing.

The heavy rain in the central and northern regions has disrupted travel in some areas, limiting the rescue attempts for the missing.

Hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings have been destroyed, while vast amounts of live stock have also been killed.