Flamethrower drone incinerates wasp nests in China

A drone has been converted into a flying flamethrower in central China in a fiery campaign to eradicate more than 100 wasp nests.

Blue Sky Rescue, a volunteer group that conducts search and rescue and other emergency work, said it had teamed up with villagers in Zhong county near the city of Chongqing to remove the insects.

They raised 80,000 yuan (£9,200) to buy the drone and equip it with a petrol tank and an arm-length nozzle.

In a video released by Blue Sky, the six-arm drone can be seen hovering above a hive as large as a suitcase before swooping down, flipping an ignition switch and spitting bursts of fire onto the hive.

“The burning ashes of the wasp’s nest gradually peeled off and fell, and the surrounding residents applauded and praised the rescue team,” an article on a local news app run by state-owned Chongqing TV said.

The article also quoted a resident thanking Blue Sky for helping the village: “Now we don’t have to worry about being stung by a wasp,” they said.

Blue Sky added that it had destroyed 11 hives so far, but there were more than 100 left to remove.

The state-backed China Daily newspaper reported in 2013 that the death rate for wasp stings in China was thought to be relatively high as people living in remote rural areas were often not able to receive timely treatment for their injuries.

“People being severely stung by wasps may suffer renal failure, liver failure and cardiac injury and may die within one or two hours without timely treatment,” Guo Dongyang, a doctor at the General Hospital of Chengdu Military Region, was quoted as saying by the paper.