Seriously: Heart-breaking story!
Regards,
Posted on 11/07/2025 6:03:54 PM PST by 11th_VA
An unexpected attack from swarms of venomous wasps killed two American tourists, a father and his son, during a zip-lining trip in Laos. The attack occurred on October 15 but was publicly reported earlier this week.
A source close to U.S. diplomats in Laos told The Times of London that the hornets overwhelmed Daniel and Cooper Owen as they descended from a tree at Green Jungle Park, an eco-adventure resort near the city of Luang Prabang. The pair, still conscious, was quickly transferred to a clinic and then to the provincial hospital for emergency attention. However, they died a few hours following their arrival at the hospital.
The park expressed condolences for the victims while noting that the attack “was an unforeseeable and extraordinary natural occurrence,” it told The New York Times. It added that officials have since reviewed its safety measures and “further enhanced aspects of our emergency response protocols, including the evacuation process for the zip-line course.”
Asian giant hornets are among the largest hornets in the world. Their stings can inject a deadly neurotoxin that can be fatal, and they are known to react aggressively to perceived threats, landing them the nickname “murder hornets.” They’re native to parts of Asia but have spread across the world in the past few years, including—for a short stint—the United States.
As the park’s statement states, attacks from these insects aren’t impossible but rare. Still, a bad run-in with the fiercely protective wasps can be extremely dangerous.
“Their whole bodies were covered in red spots. It was very, very painful. A lot of stings, more than 100, over the whole body,” Phanomsay Phakan, a doctor at the clinic where the Owens were first treated, told The Times. “I thought already that it’s a very dangerous situation because I had never seen it as bad as that.”
“The son was unconscious and passed away after half an hour, while the father was conscious and passed away about three hours later,” said Jorvue Yianouchongteng, the emergency room physician who attended to the pair, to The Associated Press. “We tried our best to save them but we couldn’t.”
Yianouchongteng added that both patients had been stung more than 100 times and suffered severe anaphylactic shock. However, they have yet to determine the exact cause of death.
Daniel Owen, 47, was originally from Idaho but had been working as the director of QSI International School in Vietnam. Cooper, 15, was a student at the school, which released a statement in memoriam of the victims.
“Dan dedicated 18 years to QSI, serving in five different schools and touching countless lives with his warmth, leadership, and unwavering commitment to education,” the statement read. “He was deeply loved across our community and will be profoundly missed. Our sincere condolences go out to the Owen family and all who knew and loved them.”
“touching many lives”....
Hahahahaha...now you not only have to worry about that water trap near the 7th hole, you have to be careful when canoeing that it isn’t “Death From Above”!
Murder Hornets sound like something you’d find in Australia.
Everything there can kill ya, I hear.
Horrible. When I’m out hunting or hiking around here (southern AZ), I consider Africanized bees to be the most dangerous animals I might encounter, even though I’m not allergic to bee stings. They have already killed several people in the state over the last 30 years. Those bees will chase you as far as a mile, and I can’t run a mile in the desert while being continually stung, so they’d get me. If I hear that hum or see more than one or two bees flying nearby, I cautiously go the other way.
There are also paper wasps, mud wasps, and yellowjackets here, and it’s no fun being stung by them, but they won’t attack as aggressively as the killer bees.
Seriously: Heart-breaking story!
Regards,
*********
Yep, watch out for the footless varieties also.
They slither along and can get you also. Then
you have the multi-wheel and watery varieties.
Death abounds just be careful as best you can.
Read about Viet Nam having uncontrolled growth of these bugs this year. Dont fuck around with insects that can kill you
When does the next Eco-Adventure start?
I can hit that with my dad’s 12 gauge. Gonna need more ammo!
I’ve heard that the sting of the Tarantula Hawk wasp is very painful. Probably because they’re so big!
I saw them all the time in our yard in New Mexico.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk
Yep- i think the ‘kings of pain’ did a show on them- pretty terrible sting
Suddenly a little ice and snow doesn't sound like a bad proposition.
Probably severe anaphylactic shock after exposure to murder hornet venom.
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