HANOI, Vietnam—Six poisonous snakes escaped from a bag and slithered across the floor of a bus in Vietnam, sparking screams and a hurried evacuation. But nobody was bitten.

A police officer says passengers and villagers killed all of the highly venomous kraits after the bus made a quick stop in Quang Nam province. The bus had been traveling from Quang Nam to Binh Dinh with 14 people aboard.

The police officer—who spoke on condition of anonymity citing department policy—says somebody who wasn't a passenger put the bag on the bus and paid the driver to transport it. It wasn't immediately clear if the snakes were being transported legally.

Snakes are a delicacy in some Vietnamese restaurants, and an ingredient in some traditional liquors.