Horrifying bee attack leaves 24 injured and three fighting for their lives
A horrifying bee attack has left 24 people injured and three fighting for their lives.
One of the victims, an elderly woman, suffered as many as 25 separate stings during the attack in Aurillac in the south of France on Sunday morning. Paramedics arrived to a panicked scene outside the Hôtel de Bordeaux, with tourists and locals scrambling to dodge their buzzing attackers.
Police set up a cordon to keep tourists away from the scene before a beekeeper was called in to get rid of the creatures. It's understood the three victims in critical condition were allergic to bees and had suffered a severe adverse reaction. One of the women suffered a cardiac arrest, but thankfully firefighters were able to revive her.
According to French media outlets, the bees were being kept on the roof of the hotel building - but swarmed on to the streets below after their apiary was attacked by a swarm of Asian hornets, FranceBleau reports.
All of the victims were rushed to the Henri Mondor hospital in Aurillac.
A spokesman for the local police said that the situation is now under control and that the bees have stopped rampaging.
The town's mayor, Pierre Mathonier, praised the efforts of the emergency services for how they secured the scene and treated the victims.
'There were hives installed on the roof terrace of the Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux for over 10 years. Asian hornets must have threatened the hive, which caused the bees to become aggressive", he said.
"These aggressive bees spread to Avenue de la République and attacked passersby."
"The beekeeper had never experienced such behaviour from bees. It raises questions about the presence of hives in the city centre.
"It could have been much more serious. It's shocking. A 78-year-old person was stung 25 times."
The town hall stated that the colony will either be moved to a new location of culled.
Earlier this year, a swarm of bees attacked and killed a terrified man while he was mowing his lawn in Texas. Stephen Daniel had been mowing the lawn close to an abandoned building near Friendship Park in Eastland, Texas, on April 27, when he accidentally disturbed a large beehive.
Within moments the bees swarmed Stephen as he raced toward his vehicle. But as he tried to escape, he ended up in Chrishae Cooper's front garden. She watched on as Stephen struggled to fight off the bees and alerted emergency services. Police were then dispatched to the scene in an attempt to save Daniel's life.
But despite his efforts to escape, the bees continued to sting and attack Stephen. He was later rushed to hospital with severe injuries.
Doctors attempted to save Stephen's life but he later died at the hospital from circulatory collapse due to the stings. A beekeeper was later called to remove the hive from the abandoned property, network KTXS reported.
According to the US-based Mayo Clinic, the effects a bee sting can range from painful swelling to a life-threatening allergic reaction. If you have one type of reaction once, it does not mean you will have the same reaction every time you or stung, or that your reaction will be more severe.
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