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Two people dead after swarms of spiders attack Indian town - NY Daily News
Two people dead after swarms of spiders attack Indian town
Residents were enjoying a festival when scores of the eight-legged creatures descended on the celebration and began biting people
Comments (12)
By Christine Roberts / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, June 4, 2012, 3:28 PM
Updated: Monday, June 4, 2012, 4:17 PM
Two people have died from spider bites after swarms of the poisonous arachnid invaded a town in India in a scene that could have come right out of a horror movie.
Residents of the northeastern town of Sadiya were enjoying a Hindu festival this May when scores of the eight-legged creatures descended on the celebration and began biting people, The Times of India reports.
Purnakanta Buragohain and an unnamed schoolboy died days later. Several other people sought treatment for the bites, including local resident Juntu Gogoi, who spent a day in the hospital suffering from excruciating pain and nausea.
Panicked local officials are considering spraying the town with insecticide to ward off future attacks. Scientists, however, say they don't even know what type of spider is to blame.
The spider could be a tarantula, a funnel-web spider, a black wishbone or an entirely new species.
Dr. L.R. Saikia, head of the Department of Life Sciences at Dibrugarh University, said that one thing is for sure: the spiders are "highly aggressive."
"It leaps at anything that comes close," Saikia told The Times of India. "Some of the victims claimed the spider latched on to them after biting."
It is unclear if the two victims died from the spiders' venom, as both were cremated before an autopsy could be performed.
Dr. Anil Phatowali, superintendent of the town's hospital, said he cant be sure if the spiders were even venomous because he did not administer an antivenin dose.
The bite victims may have fallen ill because they went to witch doctors before seeking hospital treatment. The witch doctors opened the victims wounds with razors and drained their blood.
That could have also made them sick, Phatowali said.
Two people dead after swarms of spiders attack Indian town - NY Daily News
Two people dead after swarms of spiders attack Indian town
Residents were enjoying a festival when scores of the eight-legged creatures descended on the celebration and began biting people
Comments (12)
By Christine Roberts / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, June 4, 2012, 3:28 PM
Updated: Monday, June 4, 2012, 4:17 PM
Two people have died from spider bites after swarms of the poisonous arachnid invaded a town in India in a scene that could have come right out of a horror movie.
Residents of the northeastern town of Sadiya were enjoying a Hindu festival this May when scores of the eight-legged creatures descended on the celebration and began biting people, The Times of India reports.
Purnakanta Buragohain and an unnamed schoolboy died days later. Several other people sought treatment for the bites, including local resident Juntu Gogoi, who spent a day in the hospital suffering from excruciating pain and nausea.
Panicked local officials are considering spraying the town with insecticide to ward off future attacks. Scientists, however, say they don't even know what type of spider is to blame.
The spider could be a tarantula, a funnel-web spider, a black wishbone or an entirely new species.
Dr. L.R. Saikia, head of the Department of Life Sciences at Dibrugarh University, said that one thing is for sure: the spiders are "highly aggressive."
"It leaps at anything that comes close," Saikia told The Times of India. "Some of the victims claimed the spider latched on to them after biting."
It is unclear if the two victims died from the spiders' venom, as both were cremated before an autopsy could be performed.
Dr. Anil Phatowali, superintendent of the town's hospital, said he cant be sure if the spiders were even venomous because he did not administer an antivenin dose.
The bite victims may have fallen ill because they went to witch doctors before seeking hospital treatment. The witch doctors opened the victims wounds with razors and drained their blood.
That could have also made them sick, Phatowali said.