GAUHATI: Officials say colonies of giant biting spiders have attacked villagers and sparked panic in remote northeast India. But they say locals’ attempts to treat the painful swelling caused by the bites may be more dangerous than the spiders themselves.

Two bite victims have died in Tinsukia district. Authorities say it is unclear whether they died from venom or from treatment by witch doctors who cut them with razor blades to drain the wounds. Local magistrate Kishore Thakuria said the victims were cremated before autopsies could be done.

Another seven bite victims have been treated with antibiotics against infection after they also tried to drain their wounds, said Dr Anil Phapowali at the local Sadiya town hospital.

The hairy spiders were first noticed about a month ago across Tinsukia district’s grassy plains and dense jungle forests north of the Brahmaputra River.

Ecologist LR Saikia at Assam’s Dibrugarh University said it may be a previously unknown species of tarantula.

“It looks like a new species. We haven’t been able to identify it,” he said Tuesday. Officials cannot use anti-venom in treating bite victims until the species is identified.

Meanwhile, villagers are keeping lamps on at night and standing guard against spiders entering their mud-and-thatch huts. There are about 100,000 villagers, mostly poor rice farmers, living in the area cut off from roads by the river.

Officials say the spiders are now also showing up south of the Brahmaputra.