A tourist’s attempt to smoke out a spider hiding in his Bali villa bathroom has gone spectacularly wrong, with the bloke burning the $160,000 luxury property to the ground.
Gaorap Rana had spotted the creepy-crawly and its web lurking in a corner of the bathroom at his villa in Kuta when he decided to fight fire with fire.
But the 45-year-old’s bid to evict the unwanted eight-legged guest ended in disaster, with the flames spreading from a burning piece of paper to the villa’s thatched roof and engulfing the property within minutes.
According to Badung police, Mr Rana, from Nepal, had set the paper alight in an attempt to scare the spider away before leaving the bathroom and heading to another room.
But the burning paper was apparently caught by strong winds and carried to the roof, which was made from alang-alang grass — a traditional roofing material that can be highly flammable.
“After burning the paper, the victim left the bathroom and went to the work room,” Badung Police spokesperson Ipda Ni Nyoman Yuni Eltari said, according to The Bali Sun.
“The burning paper was apparently carried by strong winds and caught the thatched roof.”
The blaze quickly took hold, reducing the luxury villa and its contents to ruins.
Firefighters were called to the scene on October 5 and, with help from locals, managed to bring the inferno under control.
Mr Rana escaped unharmed, with no injuries reported and no damage to nearby homes.
The type of spider that triggered the extraordinary chain of events has not been revealed.
Nor has it been confirmed whether Mr Rana will face any further consequences over the destruction.
