Biting-Spider Attacks Spark Panic in India

Some rather terrifying, albeit not necessarily true, news from northeast India: biting spiders are said to be taking over.

Two people have died there after reportedly being bitten by large, hairy spiders, news that has sparked a good deal of panic in remote areas of the region despite increasing speculation that the deaths were due to improper medical care, and not from the bites themselves. And some experts, as CNN reports, think the reported cases of spider bites—and their invasion of a small town—might not be all true.

According to the Times of India, the town of Sadiya in Assam is the center of a sudden swarm of large spiders resembling tarantulas that have reportedly terrorized residents for about a month. The bites, which cause painful swelling, are not necessarily believed to be fatal. According to CNN, 5 of the 20 samples of spiders collected by investigators in the town are undergoing tests, but so far there's little confirmation to any of the story, which reads a bit like a bad horror film.

As the Associated Press explains, two Tinsukia district residents died following treatment from local witch doctors who used razor blades to drain wounds attributed to a bite. Seven others have been given treatment and antibiotics after trying to drain bite-related wounds themselves. The two deaths connected to the spider invasion can't be investigated further, as the bodies were cremated before an autopsy was performed.