Dan Owen, who ran an international school in Vietnam, took his teenage son Cooper on a zipline adventure at Green Jungle Park in Laos. The park sits just outside Luang Prabang, a city that draws thousands of tourists every year and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1995.
According to The Hill, the trip took a horrible turn when they reached the end of their zipline ride. As the father and son came down from a tree, a swarm of wasps attacked them. The insects stung them over 100 times all over their bodies. People at the park rushed them to a nearby clinic first, then moved them to Luang Prabang Provincial Hospital. By the time they got there, both were in bad shape.
What happened next is every traveler’s nightmare. The doctors at the hospital did everything they could, but they could not save them. Dr. Jorvue Yianouchongteng was working in the emergency room when they arrived. He said that Cooper “was unconscious and passed away after half an hour, while the father was conscious and passed away about three hours later.” He also said, “We tried our best to save them but we couldn’t.”
This shows how dangerous things can get even at well-known tourist spots
Dr. Yianouchongteng said both of them went into severe anaphylactic shock because of all the stings. He mentioned that doctors still have not figured out the exact cause of death. Laos has the Asian giant hornet living there, which people call the “murder hornet” because of how mean it acts around other bugs. But the country also has many other types of wasps. Nobody knows for sure which kind attacked Dan and Cooper.
People who knew Dan Owen were heartbroken when they heard the news. He had worked for Quality Schools International for 18 years, moving between five different schools they run. At the time he died, he was leading the QSI International School of Haiphong in Vietnam. The organization runs 35 schools around the world.
The school wrote on Facebook that he touched so many lives during his time with them. “He was deeply loved across our community and will be profoundly missed,” the school said. “Our sincere condolences go out to the Owen family and all who knew and loved them.”
The U.S. State Department said they could confirm that two Americans died in Luang Prabang. But they would not say anything else “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones.” Other people have had scary experiences too, like one woman who found something shocking in her restaurant food.
The clinic that first treated Dan and Cooper would not talk about what happened. Green Jungle Park did not answer questions from the AP either. The Laos Foreign Ministry also stayed quiet when asked for information.
This awful event reminds us that things can go wrong fast, even during activities that seem safe and fun. Just like some popular tips people share online turn out to be bad ideas, tourist activities can hide real dangers.
Published: Nov 6, 2025 01:30 pm