New Delhi, April 16 – Two youngsters nearly died in the Amazon jungle after they were left strapped to a tree swarming with poisonous fire ants for three days. The duo, one is 18 and the other is 19, had been apprehended by villagers in Ayopaya, western Bolivia, for stealing three motorcycles.
As part of the revenge and punishment for their thieving ways, the two boys were tied to a tree and left there with the poisonous fire ants stinging them over three days.
Dr Roberto Paz of Bolivia’s Cochabamba hospital said that one of the boys was in intensive care while the other had suffered a kidney failure and needed dialysis.
The sister of one of the boys said that the duo had been accused of stealing three motorbikes and that the villagers had held them hostage for nearly three days. They were released only after a hefty ransom was paid by the relatives.
The sister said that the boys would have died if the ransom had not been paid. The venomous ants live on the triplaris tree, which grows throughout Central and South America. Their poison can be deadly but is used in small doses as a traditional cure for arthritis.
-INDIA TODAY
