Dehradun (Uttarakhand): A father-son duo died when a swarm of wasps attacked them in Tuneta village of Tehri district. They were grazing cows in a forest when the insects descended on them. The incident has scared the villagers.
According to the information, the eight-year-old son, Abhishek, first came under attack. Seeing him in distress, the father, 47-year-old Sundarlal, laid Abhishek down to save his life. But the swarm of wasps bit the son and father 60 and 100 times respectively, leaving them seriously injured. The villagers rushed them to the hospital where they died.
This is the second incident of a wasp attack after the September 24 incident in Toli village of Bageshwar district where a villager, Ramesh Singh, died of a wasp attack when he was plucking walnuts.
In 2022, a swarm of wasps attacked the Inter College of Assi Ganga Valley in Uttarkashi leaving 20 students injured. After this incident, the government announced compensation for the people injured and the dead due to the wasp attack.
In another incident in 2022, a Nepali citizen was attacked by wasps near Pithoragarh and died a few days later. In Kapkot of Bageshwar, two brothers were badly injured in a wasp attack in Posari village last year while playing in the courtyard. Both the children were admitted to the hospital in critical condition and one of them died during treatment.
The state government has made a provision to give Rs 1 lakh to persons seriously injured in the wasp attack, Rs 3 lakh in case of disability due to wasp bite and Rs 6 lakh for death. The forest department has also placed wasps in the category of leopard, bear, crocodile and snake.
Dehradun's veterinarian Aditi said the tiny wasps can prove to be very dangerous. "We have seen many such cases in the last few years. Many species among them are very poisonous. If you are going to the forest, try not to wear dark-coloured clothes as wasps usually attack on seeing dark clothes. Many people also use perfume and come under wasp attack very quickly. Its sting contains a poison called toxin and due to excessive bite, blood pressure drops suddenly. However, if immediate treatment is given after the bite, the person can be saved," she said.
Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal said, "Whatever happened in Tehri is very sad. We are getting it investigated that there should be no wasp hives in such residential areas, schools and other places. We have told the officials that the compensation process should be completed as soon as possible and the amount should be made available to the family. Our government stands with the bereaved family."
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