Twenty-five hikers who had come to Huoyan Mountain for exercise were attacked by a swarm of hornets at noon on the sixth. The sudden assault sent everyone running for cover, but eight people were stung and had to be hospitalized, suffering from body-wide pain. Fortunately, they are all in stable condition after treatment. The injured said the attack may have been triggered when an umbrella or bamboo stick carried by one of the hikers accidentally disturbed a hornet nest.
The Miaoli County Fire Bureau reported that eight hikers—five men and three women—were taken to Miaoli Da-Chien Hospital for treatment. They were You Mei-Jing, Qiu Mei-Lian, and Xiao Xiu-Lan (female), as well as Lü Bi-Lai, Wu Qing-Biao, Xu Hai-Zhang, Lai Xin-An, and Peng Zheng-Fang (male). Emergency room doctors said the victims were stung on the head, neck, arms, wrists, or back, with the wounds generally showing signs of redness and swelling.
Lü Bi-Lai, Xiao Xiu-Lan, and others said most of them are vendors at the Xingming Market in Zhongli. They usually gather for hiking or other leisure activities every Monday. The group of 45 arrived at the foot of Huoyan Mountain in Sanyi before 10 a.m. yesterday. Twenty-five of them climbed Huoyan Mountain together, while the remaining 20 engaged in other activities nearby.
Wu Qing-Biao, who was at the back of the group, said that about half an hour after entering the mountain through the hiking trail entrance, someone suddenly shouted a warning about hornets. But the insects swarmed in from all directions like bombers. Everyone tried waving towels or backpacks to drive them away, but several couldn’t dodge in time and were stung all over, in great pain—even those who covered their heads with towels weren’t spared.