'Killer spiders' terrorise village in India

Two people are thought to have been killed after the Indian village of Sadiya was suddenly invaded by biting spiders.

According to reports from Indian media, the spiders began jumping at people during a Hindu festival and a number of people required treatment after being bitten.

The Times of India said a schoolboy and another unidentified victim died following an attack by the arachnids.

However, both victims were cremated before a post-mortem could be carried out, meaning it is not clear whether they were killed by the spiders' venom.

Reports have indicated that they both sought treatment from local witch doctors, who used razor blades to drain the wounds caused by the bites.

Insecticides are now being sprayed by authorities in the remote area, which lies about 370 miles east of the city of Guwahati.

Ecologist LR Saikia of Assam's Dibrugarh University suggested the creatures' unusual behaviour could mean that they belong to a new species of tarantula.

'It appears to be an aggressive spider with its fangs more powerful than the normal variety of house spiders,' Mr Saikia explained.

'It leaps at anything that comes close. Some of the victims claimed the spider latched on to them after biting.'


/metro.co.uk/