E-Paper
Siblings in China killed by wasp swarm, boy stung 300 times and sister 700; beekeeper under probe
A wasp attack in a Chinese village claimed the lives of two siblings.
Two siblings in southwestern China died after suffering hundreds of wasp stings, leading police to detain a local farmer on charges of negligent homicide.
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The incident took place on June 28 in a village in Muding county, Yunnan province, where a seven-year-old boy and his two-year-old sister were attacked by swarms of wasps, according to The Paper, as cited by the South China Morning Post.
The children lived with their grandparents while their parents worked as migrant labourers in eastern Zhejiang province. On the day of the incident, their grandmother had taken them to a cornfield for farm work. While she was occupied, the siblings wandered into nearby pine woods where the attack began.
Desperate rescue attempts
A nearby villager first heard the children’s cries for help and rushed to investigate but was also stung. The villager ran to alert the grandmother, who hurried to rescue them. She managed to carry the boy to safety first and then attempted to save the little girl.
By the time medical help arrived, the girl had already succumbed to her injuries. The boy was taken to hospital and kept in intensive care but died the following day. Their grandmother was also hospitalised for a week.
The parents returned home the next day only to learn of the devastating loss. “My two kids were stung all over their bodies – head, arms, legs, back, and stomach. No part of their bodies was spared,” their father, identified only as Yang, told local media.
Hundreds of stings confirmed
As per a report by SCMP, forensic experts revealed that the boy suffered more than 300 stings, while his sister endured as many as 700. The wasps were identified as Vespa velutina nigrithorax, commonly known as the yellow-legged hornet, according to the forestry authority.
The insects had been raised by a farmer surnamed Li, who was detained for a week and later released on bail as police continued their investigation. He provided the grieving family with 40,000 yuan (£4,400) as compensation, saying he could not afford more. Li explained that he had invested 50,000 yuan into raising the wasps to sell their chrysalises as a local delicacy and had kept them for two years without prior incidents. After the deaths, he exterminated all the wasps.
Regulatory failure and government response
SCMP reported that the county’s forestry department confirmed Li had failed to register the species he was raising, which is required under local regulations. Authorities have since launched inspections across the region and issued a ban on the farming of yellow-legged hornets.
