Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) — A man in his 40s died early Friday after being attacked by a swarm of hornets the previous day while leading a group of schoolchildren and students on a hike along a section of the ancient Jinshuiying hiking trail in Taitung County.

According to Taitung MacKay Memorial Hospital, 41-year-old Hung Wei-yen (洪偉彥), who suffered over 50 stab wounds to his back, was pronounced dead at around 2 a.m. after all resuscitation attempts failed.

Hung and the group of 20 students were 2.5 kilometers from the trailhead near the Qaljapang aboriginal village in Dawu township when they encountered a hornet’s nest on Thursday afternoon, the Taitung Fire Department said.

All students managed to get past the nest, but two of them suffered minor stab wounds and were later taken to hospital for treatment.

After reaching a safe distance, the students said they immediately called the Taitung Fire Department for help as they were unable to return to Hung, who was lying on the ground surrounded by hornets.

According to their reports, Hung had ordered them to run quickly past the nest while he stayed behind and tried to scare away the insects.

The department’s rescue team said they reached the victim around 7 p.m. and injected him with three doses of Bosmi, a cardiac stimulant, as he was unable to move.

Despite the low oxygen levels in his blood, the patient was still conscious when he was taken to Dawu Health Center, according to rescuers.

However, his condition soon deteriorated and he was admitted to MacKay Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The group began their trek on the Pingtung side and was expected to finish in Taitung around 6 p.m., Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) told CNA.

The deceased was the deputy director of Chung’s service office in Pingtung, who had volunteered to accompany the students on the trip.

Thursday’s walk was part of an event organized by the Chung Charity Trust Education Foundation, which organizes field trips to reward local students with good grades.