Six people, including an eight-year-old girl, have died after being attacked by killer bees following an a bus accident in Nicaragua, according to local reports.
The crash took place in the municipality of San Sebastian de Yali, around 115 miles north of the Nicaraguan capital Managua.
Victims’ Cause of Death Confirmed as Bee Stings
The victims were said to be among around 60 passengers on board a coach that came off the road in Nicaragua and ended up crashing in an area home to African honeybees. The insects are said to have reacted by stinging 45 passengers on the bus as they escaped from the vehicle.
Although the coach was damaged after plunging more than 160ft off the road into a coffee plantation where the bees were being kept in wooden hives, local reports say medics confirmed the victims’ cause of death as the insect stings.
Initial reports reported the death toll as four following Monday morning’s accident in Nicaragua. However, it later emerged that two more of the victims had died in hospital while receiving treatment. La Nueva Radio YA reported.
Driver Lost Control of the Vehicle Following ‘Mechanical Faults’
The victims included a 47-year-old woman named locally as Eneyda Torrez Zelaya, 47, and her daughter Andrea Carolina Garcia Torrez, eight. Another victim was identified as a 84-year-old woman named as Reyna Isabel Olivas Montalvan.
A four-year-old boy is also said to be in a serious condition in Victoria Mota Hospital in Jinotega, the nearest city to the crash scene. Photos of those injured showed the victims with dozens of red sting marks all over their bodies.
An investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing, although initial reports point to the 22-year-old driver losing control of his vehicle because of mechanical faults.
What are African Bees?
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Africanised honey bees, also known colloquially as the “killer bee,” is a hybrid of the western honey bee. They are typically more defensive, reacting to disturbances faster and chasing people further than other varieties of honey bees.They have killed some 1,000 humans, with victims receiving 10 times more stings than from European honey bees.
The insects, which spread through South and North America after being introduced to Brazil in the 1950s and escaping quarantine, have also been blamed for the deaths of horses and other animals they have attacked.
