Chinese group turns drone into flying flamethrower to destroy wasp nests

A group in China has modified a drone to turn it into a killer flying flamethrower that’s being used on a bizarre mission.

Volunteers in China have converted a drone into a flying flamethrower in a dramatic campaign to destroy more than 100 wasp nests.

The wasps had been terrorising residents in the central Chinese village of Zhong county, close to the southwestern city of Chongqing.

Chinese emergency rescue volunteer group Blue Sky Rescue helped locals raise more than $16,200 to buy a six-rotor drone, which was fitted with a petrol tank and arm-length nozzle, AP reported.

The modified drone will be used to destroy more than 100 wasp nests. Picture: Blue Sky Rescue Team of Zhong County

Video released by Blue Sky Rescue shows the modified drone hovering near a large wasp nest before fire shoots out of the nozzle, engulfing it in flames.

The group said it had so far destroyed 11 wasp nests, but there was around 100 left to go.

“The burning ashes of the wasp’s nest gradually peeled off and fell, and the surrounding residents applauded and praised the rescue team,” state broadcaster Chongqing TV reported, according to AP.

Chongqing quoted a resident saying: “Now we don’t have to worry about being stung by a wasp.”

The six-rotor drone was fitted with a petrol tank and nozzle. Picture: Blue Sky Rescue Team of Zhong County

There have been a number of deaths in rural China attributed to stings from wasps and hornets, usually because it takes so long in remote areas to seek medical help.

More than 100 people were killed by severe wasp stings in Sichuan in 2013 alone, according to the state-run China Daily.

While a single wasp sting doesn’t usually result in death, an attack by dozens of wasps can be fatal.

However Sky News reports ecologists generally do not encourage eradication of wasps because of their crucial role in plant pollination and eating creatures regraded by farmers as pests.

With AP.