A mother and her two-year-old daughter both died on Thursday after their family was swarmed and stung by bumblebees while fishing on the Tonle Sap lake near Kampong Chhnang town, police said yesterday.

According to deputy town police chief Chhay Khemarat, the Vietnamese-Cambodian family of five were fishing when they disturbed a large hive of bumblebees behind a tree on the lake.

“Hundreds of bumblebees started attacking and stinging them and caused them all to be very seriously wounded,” he said.

Although they tried to escape, the bees followed their boat more than 200 metres away, he said.

The child, Nguyen Thiva, died on the way to hospital, while her mother, Nguyen Thi An, 23, later succumbed to her injuries. The father and two children aged 5 and 7 are receiving treatment.