A nine-year-old Israeli boy died over the weekend after being stung by a jellyfish while swimming at the beach on the island of Ko Pha Ngan in Thailand.

Ynet reported that medics administered first aid to the boy at the beach but were too late to counteract the venom from the jellyfish bite. A differing account from Kan News said that the boy was not treated immediately and was pronounced dead in a nearby hospital.

Thai reports said that the boy was stung by either a box jellyfish or a sea wasp. The venom of both is highly poisonous to humans, immediately affecting the heart and circulatory system and capable of killing an adult within two to five minutes.

Officials from the Israeli General Consulate are in contact with the boy’s father, who has been living with his family on the island for several years.

Thai Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-arch expressed his condolences to the family and said that an investigation has been launched into the incident.

In March 2021, an Australian teenager was the first person in the country to die from a box jellyfish sting in 15 years.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)