Dad and son killed by swarm of Asian hornets who stung them ‘over 100 instances’

A dad and son have been killed by a swarm of deadly Asian hornets which stung them “more than a hundred times” while ziplining on their holiday in Laos.

Daniel Owen, 47, and Cooper, 15, died on October 15 after being attacked by hundreds of Asian giant hornets while they were ziplining at an adventure resort. The hornets are believed to have swarmed over the American pair and their adventure guide when they struggled to come down from a tree, The Times reports.

Phanomsay Phakan, a doctor at the Phakan Arocavet Clinic where the pair were first taken, said: “Their whole bodies were covered in red spots. It was very, very painful. A lot of stings, more than one hundred, over the whole body. I thought already that it’s a very dangerous situation because I had never seen it as bad as that.”

It’s believed the dad and son were still alive as they arrived at the clinic, showing no symptoms of anaphylactic shock. They were then transferred to a local hospital but were tragically pronounced dead a few hours later.

Owen was the director of one of the branches of Quality Schools International, a private school chain that serves the children of diplomats around the world. In a statement on social media, QSI said: “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.

“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.”

The Asian hornet is a non-native species described as a black and yellow insect with a velvety black thorax, a dark abdomen with a single orange-yellow band, and distinctive yellow-tipped legs.

Asian hornets are not typically deadly to humans, but their stings can be dangerous for people with a anaphylactic reaction or if a person is stung multiple times. While they are aggressive defenders of their nests, they are not inherently aggressive toward humans and pose no greater risk than native hornets.