Former 'The Voice' contestant dies at 26 after snake bite

A former contestant of The Voice has died after being bitten by a snake while she was sleeping. She was only 26.

Ifunanya Nwangene was asleep when one of two snakes in her Abuja apartment bit her and woke her up, her friend Hillary Obinna told BBC. 

Obinna said Nwangene sought treatment soon after at a nearby clinic, but did not find an antivenom. She then went to a Federal Medical Center, which allegedly only had one of the required antivenoms.

Sam Ezugwu, music director and co-founder of Nwangene's Amemuso Choir, said he drove out to search for the lacking antivenom, only to find the singer dead.

In a statement, the hospital denied that a venom was unavailable, saying claims of inadequate response are "unfounded and do not reflect the reality of the situation."

"We stand by the quality of care and dedication our team demonstrates daily," it said.

Amemuso Choir mourned Nwangene's sudden death in a statement shared on Facebook. "A rising star, Ifunanya was on the cusp of sharing her incredible talent with the world. Her voice and spirit will be deeply missed," it read.

Nwangene wowed The Voice Nigeria judges with her two-chair-turning version of Rihanna's Take a Bow on its third season. Her performance video garnered more than 80,000 views.

Before her passing, music artist Tbrass revealed in an Instagram post that they were working together last Jan. 28 on a new song for his album.