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Drunk burglar stung to death in mass bee attack

By Juan Yi-Yu
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Aug 13, 2008, Page 2

Hsiao Ching-chi (蕭清吉), a resident of Yuanlin Township (員林), Changhua County, was stung to death by tens of thousands of bees on Sunday afternoon.

Police said the 37-year-old Hsiao was unemployed and often broke into people’s houses to ask for money for drinks or glue. He left home drunk after a quarrel with his mother at noon on Sunday and broke into a nearby bee farm, smashing four or five beehives, police said.

ANGRY BEES

Each hive had 10,000 to 20,000 bees, police said, and the angry bees began to attack Hsiao.

Police suspect that Hsiao might have yelled and jumped around, further provoking the bees.

The farm’s owner, surnamed Huang, called an ambulance as soon as he found Hsiao lying on the ground.

Prosecutors from the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office said Hsiao’s face had hundreds of sting marks and he was already in a state of shock when he was found.

He died halfway to the hospital, they said.

Huang told police that he spotted Hsiao a few days ago and was shocked to discover him on his farm.

NEGLIGENCE?

Prosecutors said that they would investigate whether Huang had been negligent in not protecting the public from the bees.

Liao Yao-pan (廖曜磐), chief of the toxicology department at Changhua Hospital, said the level of injury caused by bee stings depends on the level of the allergic reaction, which could range from itchiness and dizziness to losing consciousness and heart failure.

Lee Tung-feng (李東峰), another Changhua bee farmer, said that bees seldom attack humans unless they are bothered, so people should avoid upsetting them to avoid being stung.


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