Man dies from hornet attack on trail in Taitung County

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) A man in his 40s died early Friday after he was attacked by a swarm of hornets when guiding a group of high school and university students on a hike on a section of the Jinshuiying Old Trail in Taitung County the previous day.

According to Taitung MacKay Memorial Hospital, the 41-year-old individual identified as Hung Wei-yen (洪偉彥), who sustained more than 50 stings on his back, was pronounced dead at around 2 a.m. after efforts to resuscitate him failed.

Hung and the group of 20 students were 2.5 kilometers away from the trail exit near the Indigenous village of Qaljapang in Dawu Township when they encountered a hornet's nest Thursday afternoon, the Taitung Fire Department said.

All of the students managed to make it past the nest, though two sustained minor injuries due to stings and were later taken to a hospital for treatment.

After reaching a safe distance, the students said they immediately contacted the Taitung Fire Department for help, as they were unable to get back to Hung, who was lying on the ground and surrounded by hornets.

Based on their account, Hung had instructed them to run past the nest quickly while he stayed behind to try to shoo the insects away.

The department's rescue team said they reached the victim at around 7 p.m. and injected him with three doses of Bosmi, a cardiac stimulant, as he was unable to move.

Despite having a low blood oxygen level, rescuers said the patient was still conscious when he was taken to the Dawu Health Center.

His condition soon deteriorated, however, and he was transferred to MacKay hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.

The group began hiking the trail from the Pingtung side and was supposed to end their hike at around 6 p.m. in Taitung, Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) told CNA.

The deceased man was the deputy chief of Chung's service office in Pingtung who volunteered to take the students on the trip.

Thursday's hike was part of an event organized by Chung's charitable trust education foundation, which organizes field trips to reward local students with good grades.