BANGKOK, Thailand -- Hundreds of swarming, angry Asian Giant Hornets, the world's largest, stung to death a vacationing American father and teenage son while they were jungle ziplining, reports from northern Laos said.
Daniel Owen, a 47-year-old headmaster of an international school, and his son Cooper, 15, suffered extremely painful deaths on Oct. 15 after they were rushed to a hospital, reportedly conscious, in nearby Luang Prabang.
"It was very, very painful. A lot of stings, more than one hundred, over the whole body," said Dr. Phanomsay Phakan.
"I have never seen a death [from hornet stings] and I have been working more than 20 years," the doctor said, according to the Times of London on November 4.
It was unclear why news of their deaths was not earlier reported, but all media is controlled by the Communist government in tiny, impoverished, landlocked Laos which is surrounded by China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
The tragedy occurred after the father, son, and a zipline guide climbed up to a tree-mounted platform and harnessed themselves to a long, slightly downward vertical steel zipline.
That enabled them to easily slide above scenic dense treetops among limestone karst mountains 10 miles from Luang Prabang, a popular tourist town in northern Laos along the Mekong River.
At the end of the line, still at treetop level in the tropical jungle, they reached another platform attached to a huge tree.
While climbing down from that platform toward the ground, they apparently accidentally hit a large nest of deadly hornets which swarmed into their faces and onto their clothes.
Reports identified the insects as Asian Giant Hornets.
As the three desperately flailed at the insects, the hornets continued to sting them hundreds of times with a venom that attacks the nervous system, causing extreme pain and cell death, known as tissue necrosis.
"Local officials in Luang Prabang said this was the first fatal hornet attack of its kind recorded in the area," the government-controlled Laotian Times reported on November 4.
"Regarding this incident, the Lao government has not yet issued an official statement," it said.
"It feels like someone has shoved a red-hot poker into your arm and does not remove it for close to six hours," said Nathaniel 'Coyote' Peterson, who volunteered to suffer an Asian Giant Hornet sting on his YouTube channel Brave Wilderness, Newsweek reported in 2020.
"Searing pain. Absolute searing pain," Mr. Peterson said.
"Its stings can cause acute interstitial nephritis and acute renal failure," according to the Bethesda, MD-based National Library of Medicine in an analysis of the venom's damage to patients' kidneys after being stung by an Asian Giant Hornet.
Mr. Owen, originally from Idaho, was working for Malta-based Quality Schools International (QSI) as a director of their private school in Haiphong along the Gulf of Tonkin near Hanoi, Vietnam.
"We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Dan Owen, Director of QSI International School of Haiphong, and his son Cooper, due to a tragic accident," QSI reportedly said online.
"Dan dedicated 18 years to QSI, serving in five different schools and touching countless lives with his warmth, leadership, and unwavering commitment to education.
"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."
Green Jungle Park, the "luxury camp" accommodation where Mr. Owen and his son Cooper stayed in Laos, reportedly said: “Green Jungle Park extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Daniel and Cooper Owen.
“This event is unprecedented in our experience and, to our understanding, in Luang Prabang as well. It was an unforeseeable and extraordinary natural occurrence," a spokesperson said.
Green Jungle Park, which offers bungalows, tents, and "adventure activities" including ziplining, said on its website in imperfect English:
"Fill our security acknowledgement form, following by a training safety riding Zip Line with our experienced guide, and start climb up to the higher trees for 14 stations and 1,300 meters (4,265 feet) of Zip Line, down to the Valley, fly between the trees, cross the Green Jungle Canopy, enjoy or challenge your friends with 180 meters of Twin Line and fly above the Green Garden Flower on 290 meters (590 feet) before abseil down of the tree and then back to the coffee shop by the Green Organic Trail."
Ziplining is popular in Laos which in recent years has strived to develop international tourism after its debt-troubled economy languished for decades under a hermit, xenophobic regime.
"The Asian Giant Hornet (AGH) is the world’s largest hornet, measuring 1.5 to 2 inches in length," the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture said in a description of pests.
"It only takes a few AGH to attack a honey bee hive and kill the entire hive in a matter of hours. AGH is often referred to as the ‘murder hornet’ due to their venomous stings.
"Although in rare circumstances they can be dangerous to humans, the real threat of AGH is to honey bees."
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Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia since 1978, and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondents' Award. Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books, "Rituals. Killers. Wars. & Sex. -- Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka & New York" and "Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers & Freaks" are available at
https://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com