Wasps savage tourists at Sri Lankan attraction, but board won’t shut it down

AN Australian tourist has described a terrifying wasp attack at a Sri Lankan attraction, with around 40 people hospitalised in the swarms this week.

Emma Reynoldsemmareyn
news.com.auJuly 17, 20167:57pm

Children and adults alike were terrified when the wasps attacked the Sri Lankan tourist attraction of Sigiriya.Source:Supplied

TOURISTS have spoken of their terror after a plague of wasps attacked a tourist attraction in Sri Lanka, hospitalising around 40 people in just a week.

But the authorities have made no effort to shut down the ancient palace and fortress of Sigiriya, which is sometimes referred to as the “eighth wonder of the world.”

Australian journalist Peter Lalor was visiting the UNESCO World Heritage site while on holiday with his wife when the latest swarm descended.

He described the “mayhem” as crowds fled the vicious insects, with many people badly injured as they fell on the rock plateau and others left with stings all over their bodies.

Around 40 tourists have been injured in three attacks this week.

Around 40 tourists have been injured in three attacks this week.Source:Supplied

Australian couple Peter and Sue Lalor shortly before the terrifying swarm of wasps descended.

Australian couple Peter and Sue Lalor shortly before the terrifying swarm of wasps descended.Source:Supplied

Mrs Lalor hid in a mesh cage while her husband crawled under a tarpaulin.

Mrs Lalor hid in a mesh cage while her husband crawled under a tarpaulin.Source:Supplied

“People were being attacked as they ran and falling on the ground,” The Australian’s cricket writer told news.com.au. “It was very frightening. It was just chaos.”

He and his wife Sue had climbed about halfway up the sacred site, where entry costs $30, when the wasps attacked. His spouse was able to hide in a protective cage, but Mr Lalor couldn’t reach it and hid under a tarpaulin until he was able to run into the mesh hideout.

“It was a stampede,” he said. “People were trapped.

“One tourist was bitten from head to toe. Another was bitten all over his face.”

When Mr Lalor spoke to a guard about it, the man pointed to his face, shaking, and said this was the third attack in a week. Two days earlier, 14 people had been injured, and just days before that, more than 20 tourists were hurt.

Shaking guards told tourists the swarms were as bad as they’ve ever been.

Shaking guards told tourists the swarms were as bad as they’ve ever been.Source:Supplied

Signs warn of wasps, but families were not discouraged from entering the popular attraction.

Signs warn of wasps, but families were not discouraged from entering the popular attraction.Source:Supplied

The sacred rock is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site.

The sacred rock is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site.Source:Supplied

While this is the season when wasps are active the area, and there are warning signs, visitors were not discouraged from going in. Yet the swarms are as bad as they’ve ever been, according to locals.

“I’m surprised somebody hasn’t been killed falling off the rock,” said Mr Lalor. “No one was saying don’t go up because the wasps are bad. Our driver had to carry someone down.

“They’re still letting tourists in, it’s just horrific.”

The sacred site 150km northeast of Colombo receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and there have been spates of terrifying wasp attacks in the past.

In 2004, the temple was temporarily closed after dozens of tourists were taken to hospital with swollen limbs following an attack on an unprecedented scale, the BBC reported.

News.com.au has not yet had a response to attempts to contact the Sri Lanka Tourism Head Office.

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