Giant Biting Spiders invade Indian town

Issue313 · #1 06-13-2012, 05:15 PM

Two are dead and dozens injured after giant biting spiders invaded Sadiya, Upper Assam in India.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...ct-upper-assam

Quote:

Jintu Gogoi's neighbourhood in Sadiya, Upper Assam, is no longer friendly. Over two weeks ago, an army of eight-legged freaks invaded it. It all happened in the evening on May 8. Most of the inhabitants of Chaulkhowa Nagaon village had been to a Bihu function. When the programme drew to a close, swarms of spiders suddenly descended from nowhere and started biting the people. The festive mood soon turned into one of panic with people bumping into each other and tripping over empty benches in their frantic bid to egress. Jintu was bitten by one of these critters.

It's weird how the Indians seem so keen to downplay the situation:

Quote:

“We cannot say for sure that the fatalities were due to the venom,” Dr. Anil Phatowali of Sadiya Civil Hospital told the Times. “It could have been because of allergic reaction to the venom, which triggered cardiac arrest in both the victims. But all the bite patients first went to witch doctors, who cut open their wounds with razors, drained out blood and burnt it. That could have also made them sick.”

Indian weirdness, no problem here, move along, don't mind the giant biting spiders. Because people die from minor bloodletting ALL THE TIME (although death is often caused by an allergic reaction to venom).

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report...llages_1698932

Quote:

A team of scientists led by Dibrugarh University head of the department of life sciences L R Saikia visited the area and collected specimens, which were yet to be identified.

"It is similar to the tarantula, but it could be a whole new species. As there are no arachnologists in the Northeast, it will take us a while to identify it," he said.

The hairy spider species is aggressive, and some of the victims claimed that they latched onto them after biting. Therefore the spiders need to be dealt with very carefully.