The tragic incident occurred in late June and was reported by The Paper on 15/9. A 7-year-old boy and his 2-year-old sister were playing in a pine forest near a cornfield where their grandparents were working. The children were usually cared for by their grandparents in a village in Yunnan province while their parents worked in Zhejiang province.

According to The Paper, a villager heard screams and ran to help but was also stung. The grandmother rushed to the scene and carried her grandson to safety, but the girl was unresponsive and died at the scene from her injuries. The boy was taken to the hospital and treated in intensive care but died the next day. The grandmother was also hospitalized for a week to treat her stings.

The children's parents returned home the following day to the devastating news. "My children were stung all over their bodies, from their heads, hands, and feet to their backs and stomachs. There wasn't a single spot on their bodies that wasn't stung," said the children's father, Mr. Yang.

Illustration of a hornet. Image: Bees Wiki

Forensic experts found that the boy had suffered over 300 stings, and the girl had over 700. The hornets were identified as Vespa velutina nigrithorax, commonly known as Asian hornets, and were being kept by a local farmer named Li. Mr. Li was initially detained for a week on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter but was later released on bail while the police continue their investigation.

Mr. Li has compensated the family 40,000 CNY (approximately 5,680 USD). He explained that he had been raising the hornets for two years, investing 50,000 CNY to sell the larvae, a local delicacy. Following the children's deaths, he destroyed all of his hornets.

The local forestry department stated that Mr. Li had not registered his hornet farm as required. Following the incident, authorities inspected all hornet farms in the area and issued a ban on raising Asian hornets.

Binh Minh (According to Sina, The Paper)