One woman has died and four people were taken to hospital after being stung multiple times by Asian hornets during a group hike.
The 77-year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene after going into cardiac arrest.
A woman of 68 remained in intensive care yesterday and three others were also taken to hospital.
They came across a hornets’ nest on the ground by a tree while following a trail in Brittany, France, on Monday.
The trail near Pleudihen-sur-Rance has now been closed to the public for the nest to be destroyed.
Asian hornets from same nest had attacked a town resident on the same path last Friday, according to French media reports. He was reportedly stung dozens of times, on his head, arms, shoulders, bottom, legs and feet before escaping.
Alexandra Lecomte, who works to combat invasive species in the area, warned even going within a car’s length of a hornet’s nest could put people at risk of attack. She said : “Passing too close to a nest can cause the hornets to become agitated.
“We consider a perimeter of three or four metres [around 10ft to 13ft] around a nest can be dangerous, because they are sensitive to vibrations.”
Although human casualties are rare, the fatal attack has sparked fears over public safety, with sightings of the Asian hornet, left, in parts of the UK.
It began to spread through Europe in 2004 after arriving in the south of France inside a freight ship, and was first spotted on Jersey in late 2016.
Victory was declared in the war against the invader in Jersey this summer after a Dad’s Army-style effort.
A network of more than 500 traps were set across the Channel Island which residents checked daily.
By May this year, 153 queens had been spotted – down from more than 250 seen by the same date last year.
But it is feared the species may already have established a fresh route from the continent, with sightings along the Kent coastline.
