KUCHING: Not one, but four wasp hives were found at a private land where two siblings were stung to death at Taman Sri Cahaya Tondong in Sungai Moyan in Batu Kawa here on Sunday.Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) officers and a pest control specialist yesterday morning discovered two more hives hidden in the crevices of a rocky outcrop after Civil Defence Department’s Rescue 999 personnel destroyed two hives there the night before.

In the meantime, residents in the area have been told to stay away from the land.

Giving the advice yesterday, MPP chairman Tan Joo Phoi said: “Rescue 999 personnel burned two hives and the wasps are now provoked and flying everywhere.

“Without the hives, some of the surviving wasps are resting on the rocks and cliffs in the area.”

He said yesterday morning his officers together with a pest control specialist assessed the area and discovered two more hives.

“MPP has engaged the private specialist to destroy the hives today (last evening) around 6.30pm when the wasps returned to their nests,” he said when contacted.

Tan said the council was not aware of the existence of the hives until last Saturday’s incident, adding that the council had also never received any complaint from the public to have the hives removed.

“It’s a private land and the council does not carry out monthly grass-cutting or maintenance in the area. But after the attack, we had to trespass the area,” he said.

He said after the inspection with the pest control specialist, they discovered the hives were built under the boulders’ cliffs and therefore, not easily noticeable.

It was best for residents to stay in and be cautious of their surrounding in the next few days even after the nests had been destroyed as some wasps that survived might return to their former sites, he advised.

“There’s still danger, so we’ve put up signs to warn the people and cordoned off the area to prevent people from trespassing,” he added.

Tan advised the public to notify the council (082-615566), Bomba or Rescue 999/Civil Defence Department (082-252940/252941) immediately should they know of any wasp hives near their residential area or in other public places so that they could be removed to prevent untoward incidents.

On Saturday around 5pm, a swarm of wasps from the empty land attacked five people out of whom four were children.

The attack claimed the lives of Chen Sze Ying, six, and her three-year old brother Chun Jie.

They died shortly after midnight.

Their eldest sister Sze Ting, eight, and mother Tan Wan Chew, 29, survived the attack, but remained in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sarawak General Hospital.

Tan’s youngest brother Chia Boon, 11, was also attacked and he too landed in ICU.

Chun Jie and his mother were said to have been stung 30 times all over their bodies, while the others suffered between 10 and 20 stings all over.

The five of them had earlier been taking a walk together at the empty land behind the flat complex and were believed to have been attacked after straying too close to a large hive etched on a boulder on the ground.

As of press time yesterday (2pm), Tan Wan Chew and Sze Ting were still warded in ICU while, Chia Boon had been transferred to the normal ward.

According to a Rescue 999 staff, the Civil Defence Department had never received any complaint from the residents on the hives.

Meanwhile, a resident who did not wish to be identified claimed that another resident discovered a hive last Friday and contacted Bomba to have it removed.

“But Bomba didn’t come to remove it immediately and on the next day, the attack happened,” he said.

He said he believed that the majority of the residents did not realise that there were wasp hives at the private land, otherwise they would have contacted the authorities to have them removed a long time ago.

“If they knew there were hives, the people especially children would not go there and play.

“It’s a hill, and some excavation work to get the soil has been done there. There’s even a crater which is filled with water. I often advise  other residents not to allow their children to play in the area because it can be dangerous,” he added.

He said Taman Sri Cahaya Tondong flat had 660 units and they moved in between six and seven years ago.

Several years ago, he said a resident had requested the authorities to remove a hive from his flat and it was done immediately, and since then, there had been no other complaints or cases.