Chinese man dies after 50 wasp stings on hunt for larvae
Man raids nests in search of protein-rich food before dying from multiple organ failure
One man died and another was in critical condition in eastern China after being stung more than 50 times by wasps while on a hunt to find and eat larvae from their nests.
The two men, aged 52 and 30, set off into the hills outside the city of Hangzhou after work last Thursday, and began hitting wasp nests and using sticks to extract the most developed larvae from the nests’ honeycomb-like interior, news outlets reported.
They were each stung around 50 times but initially ignored their stings, leaving the area only after they were ambushed by a larger swarm, according to the Qianjiang Evening News.
The next morning both men felt unwell and went to a hospital for treatment. The younger man’s condition deteriorated rapidly and he died of multiple organ failure later on Friday, the report said.
On Saturday morning, the older man, surnamed Shi, was transferred in a critical condition to the intensive care unit of Hangzhou Chinese Medicine Hospital, where he too showed symptoms of organ failure, according to medical officials cited in media reports.
The Qianjiang Evening News reported on Tuesday that Shi’s condition had stabilised.