An American man and his son die after suffering stings from a swarm of wasps while ziplining in Laos

Bangkok — An American man and his teenage son died last month after being swarmed by hornets while skiing at an adventure camp in Laos, and were stung dozens of times, a hospital official said Thursday.

Dan Owen, the principal of an international school in neighboring Vietnam, and his son Cooper were attacked by the insects on October 15 at Green Jungle Park, while descending from a tree at the end of the zip line.

The camp is located outside the city of Luang Prabang, a popular tourist site in the Southeast Asian country that was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

The two were taken to a local clinic and then transferred to Luang Prabang Provincial Hospital, where they arrived in critical condition, said Jorvo Yanuchongteng, the emergency room doctor who received them.

“The son was unconscious and died after half an hour, while the father was conscious and died about three hours later,” he told the Associated Press. “We tried our best to save them but we couldn’t.”

The doctor said that they both suffered from severe anaphylactic shock after being bitten more than 100 times in their bodies, but the exact cause of death had not been determined.

The Asian giant hornet, known as the “murder hornet” because of its aggressive behavior toward other insects, is found in Laos as are many other species of hornets. It was not clear which species had bitten the two.

The local clinic where the two were first treated declined to comment and Green Jungle Park did not respond to an AP inquiry. The Lao Foreign Ministry also did not respond to a request for comment.

The US State Department said it could confirm the deaths of two US citizens in Luang Prabang but would not comment further “out of respect for the privacy of family and loved ones.”

In a Facebook post, Owen’s employer, Quality Schools International, paid tribute to him as having “impacted countless lives” during his 18 years with the chain, which runs 35 schools around the world. She said he worked at five of its schools and was principal of QSI International School in Haiphong, Vietnam, at the time of his death.

“He was greatly loved in our community and will be greatly missed,” the school said. “Our sincere condolences to Owen’s family and everyone who knew and loved them.”