A seven-year-old girl died after hornets stung her repeatedly in an attack that injured two of her friends as they searched for crickets in Banteay Meanchey’s Svay Chek district on Friday, officials said yesterday.

Svay Chek’s Phkoam commune chief, Pheng Phort, said the three children were looking for crickets near their homes in Phkoam village when they accidentally disturbed a hornet nest.

“The seven-year-old girl, Chreng Bormey, was one of three children attacked, and was stung 22 times by the hornets, which were hiding under a palm leaf,” he said, adding that the victim had aggravated the hornets by moving the leaf.

“She asked for help from the villagers, but they could not help her because she was stung many times ... and she died almost immediately,” he said.