Va. Students Besieged by Wasps at Rock Creek Park

A group of campers from a Virginia private school learned firsthand about the kinds of insects living in the Rock Creek Park Nature Center when they were stung by yellow jackets while on a tour Thursday afternoon. Two children were transported to the hospital as a precaution, authorities said.

The children were visiting the center in the 5000 block of Glover Road NW as part of a zoology camp at St. Stephen's & St. Agnes, a college preparatory school in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia that educates children from junior kindergarten through grade 12 on three Alexandria campuses.

National Park Service spokesman Bill Line said the 17 students visiting the nature center had gone outside to the Woodland Trail, which is behind the center and is a popular destination for tours. The group, led by park rangers, was warned before their tour that wasps nested in rotting and felled trees close to the ground, so they should not wander from the trail, Line said.

Authorities said the children apparently did not heed those instructions. But according to camp director Robert Davis, who was on the trip, the students never left the well-marked path, said Amy Swindell, director of school communications.

"This was an unfortunate occurrence, but all proper procedures were followed, and our campers are fine," Swindell said.

D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Pete Piringer said eight children and adults were treated for stings by emergency workers who responded to the scene. Two children, ages 8 and 9, were transported to a hospital as a safety measure, Piringer said. Those children had been stung repeatedly, and the stings were in the face and neck, Line said. None of the people stung showed signs of allergic reactions, Piringer said.

The Woodland trail has existed for more than 25 years, Line said, and trained rangers give tours about the creatures and plants found along the path.