15:28
Tragedy ... Edward Archbold, left
THE winner of a bizarre cockroach-eating competition has died after scoffing dozens of the live insects and worms.
Edward Archbold became ill and collapsed at the pet shop where the contest took place.Tragic video footage shows Mr Archbold just moments before as he forced the roaches down his mouth to win the competition.
The 32-year-old won a python – which he planned to sell to pal - for landing the title on Friday.
Another 30 people competed in the event in Deerfield Beach, Florida. None of the other contestants became ill afterwards.
Reptile store owner Ben Siegel, who ran the contest, said: "We feel terribly awful. He looked like he just wanted to show off and was very nice.”
Mr Siegel added that Mr Archbold did not appear to be ill before the competition.
Mr Siegel’s store posted a message on its Facebook page: "All we know is that sadly he has passed on. Please respect the privacy of the family as they try to determine what happened. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Eddie’s family in this terrible time.
"Although we just met Eddie the night of the sale, we all liked him right away. All of us here at Ben Siegel Reptiles are sad that we will not get to know Eddie better, for in the short time we knew him, he was very well liked by all."
Michael Adams, professor of entomology at the University of California at Riverside, said he had never heard of somebody dying after consuming cockroaches.
He said: "Unless the roaches were contaminated with some bacteria or other pathogens, I don't think that cockroaches would be unsafe to eat.
"Some people do have allergies to roaches, but there are no toxins in roaches or related insects."
Officials are waiting for the results of a post-mortem to determine Mr Archbold's cause of death.
A lawyer for Mr Siegel said all the contestants had signed disclaimers "accepting responsibility for their participation in this unique and unorthodox contest".
