KUANTAN: The Civil Defence Department (APM) destroyed a hornet’s nest at Kampung Padang near here early today following the deadly incident that claimed the life of a two-year-old boy on Sunday.
State APM director Zainal Yusoff said a four-member team led by Mohd Azrul Zulkurnain carried out the operation at 1am today after being alerted about the nest on Monday.
He said APM members took two hours to completely destroy the nest on the ground by burning it before spraying the insects with pesticide.
“The operation to destroy the hornet nest was done at night as the insects are less active and will attack the fire as they are attracted to light. Public safety is also our concern as there are few people outside in the wee hours,” he said.
An APM spokesman reminded the public to immediately alert the agency when they noticed bee, wasp or hornet nests, and to not destroy the nests themselves.
“Trying to remove a bee hive by yourself can be dangerous, so let the experts do their job. Alerting the authorities early can help prevent untoward incidents,” he said.
On Sept 17, Khaleef Eusoff was playing outside his house at 5pm while his father, Raafiee Abdul Rahim, was working in his garden.
Suddenly, the 39-year-old heard Khaleef screaming in pain before beginning to cry.
Upon realising that his son had been attacked by a swarm of hornets, Raafiee pulled Khaleef to safety before rushing him to Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital here.
Khaleef was stung more than 50 times and he died at 8am on Monday.
It is learnt that Raafiee had noticed the hornet’s nest some 10m away from his house several days ago.