Hornet attack and deaths

And people give spiders a hard time.

PHNOM PENH - A Vietnamese woman and her two-year-old daughter were stung to death by hornets after their fishing boat collided with a nest, Cambodian police said on Friday.

(Photo: A researcher holds an Asian predator wasp, also known as an Asian Hornet, with its stinger exposed.)

The 26-year-old mother died on Friday morning at a hospital in central Kampong Chhnang province, a day after the infant perished following the accident, local deputy police chief Chhay Khemrath told AFP.

Her son and another daughter, aged five and eight respectively, were also badly stung by the insects and have been transferred to Phnom Penh for hospital treatment.

"The Vietnamese family went fishing and tried to tie their boat to a tree, but it hit the hornets' nest triggering the attack," he said. "The father tried to get away from the tree, but the engine failed."

In a separate case, an 11-year-old Cambodian boy died on Wednesday after being stung by hornets a day earlier in Kampong Chhnang province, according to local media.


Reprinted with permission Bangkok Post Publishing, Bangkok Post Plc
Original article http://www.bangkokpost.com/most-recent/426950/hornets-kill-two-in-cambodia

Lol am I the only one that laughed when reading this article? hahaha..


I'm like picturing them all being stung, and the father pulling the rip cord faster and faster and faster.

The Snark said:

And people give spiders a hard time.

PHNOM PENH - A Vietnamese woman and her two-year-old daughter were stung to death by hornets after their fishing boat collided with a nest, Cambodian police said on Friday.

(Photo: A researcher holds an Asian predator wasp, also known as an Asian Hornet, with its stinger exposed.)

The 26-year-old mother died on Friday morning at a hospital in central Kampong Chhnang province, a day after the infant perished following the accident, local deputy police chief Chhay Khemrath told AFP.

Her son and another daughter, aged five and eight respectively, were also badly stung by the insects and have been transferred to Phnom Penh for hospital treatment.

"The Vietnamese family went fishing and tried to tie their boat to a tree, but it hit the hornets' nest triggering the attack," he said. "The father tried to get away from the tree, but the engine failed."

In a separate case, an 11-year-old Cambodian boy died on Wednesday after being stung by hornets a day earlier in Kampong Chhnang province, according to local media.


Reprinted with permission Bangkok Post Publishing, Bangkok Post Plc
Original article http://www.bangkokpost.com/most-recent/426950/hornets-kill-two-in-cambodia

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Reading the article now, did the father make it away unmolested?

As near as I could sort out from a translation of a Thai newspaper, everyone was stung but the mother and infant were in the front of the boat, unable to escape, and were stung (numerous/Very many) times.
From first hand observation, when the Asian Hornet goes into nest threatened mode a number of them swarm out and sting repeatedly and incessantly until the person gets about 10 feet or more from the nest. Each hornet stings about once per second. The sting can penetrate light clothing with ease. So stuck in the front of the boat (these boats are very narrow and you can't move around) and unable to jump in the water because of the infant they each could have been stung over a thousand times in less than a minute.

They do not seem to pursue people as far as the 'Yellow Jacket', vespula, of north America. I've seen them chase people 20 to 40 feet, but the truckers around here pack a much more powerful wallop. I got stung on my cheek and it felt like I had been given a very hard slap from someone who knew what they were doing. It stunned me momentarily. I compare to the yellow jackets that feel like a sharp red hot needle.