14. 09. 09. - 15:00

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14. 09. 09. - 15:00

Hornets force runners out of Marathon

By William Green

One runner passed out and dozens more were forced to drop out of the Linz Mountain Marathon this weekend after they were attacked by hornets.

Some were stung dozens of times as they ran on Saturday and had to seek medical attention.

Organisers said yesterday (Sun) the attacks had occurred near the end of the 52-kilometre-long route around Upper Austrian capital Linz.

A female participant who claimed she had been stung 15 times said during an interview on ORF radio that runners in her group had panicked when the insects swarmed on them. She said she had escaped by diving into a nearby stream.

The radio said a male runner had passed out after being attacked and was taken to hospital for treatment.

At least 20 runners needed medical treatment.

At the start of this month a hunter and his granddaughter survived after being attacked by a swarm of hornets in Carinthia during the first week of September.

The 62-year-old was stung 50 times and his granddaughter, seven, 20 times when in a forest near Kühnsdorf in Völkermarkt district.

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