Unprecedented Bee Attack Injures Dozens in French Town
A surprising bee attack leaves three critically injured and many others hurt in Aurillac, France.
In a baffling incident over the weekend, a sudden attack by hundreds of bees in Aurillac, a town in south-central France, left three individuals in critical condition and injured 24 others. The mayor of Aurillac, Pierre Mathonier, described the severity of the situation, with a 78-year-old woman among the most seriously affected, stung 25 times and requiring resuscitation after cardiac arrest. Bystanders were thrown into chaos as they scrambled to evade the swarming insects. Eyewitness accounts suggest mass panic as people struggled to identify the source of the attack. Local authorities quickly cordoned off the area and enlisted the help of a beekeeper to safely disperse the bees using smoke. Preliminary investigations indicate that the attack may have stemmed from aggression within the bee colony, possibly triggered by the presence of Asian hornets threatening their hive. However, experts like Christian Carrier, president of the regional beekeepers' union, caution that such unexpected behavior might relate more to the bees becoming overcrowded in their hive rather than a response to hornet threats.
A surprising bee attack leaves three critically injured and many others hurt in Aurillac, France.
In a baffling incident over the weekend, a sudden attack by hundreds of bees in Aurillac, a town in south-central France, left three individuals in critical condition and injured 24 others. The mayor of Aurillac, Pierre Mathonier, described the severity of the situation, with a 78-year-old woman among the most seriously affected, stung 25 times and requiring resuscitation after cardiac arrest. Bystanders were thrown into chaos as they scrambled to evade the swarming insects. Eyewitness accounts suggest mass panic as people struggled to identify the source of the attack. Local authorities quickly cordoned off the area and enlisted the help of a beekeeper to safely disperse the bees using smoke. Preliminary investigations indicate that the attack may have stemmed from aggression within the bee colony, possibly triggered by the presence of Asian hornets threatening their hive. However, experts like Christian Carrier, president of the regional beekeepers' union, caution that such unexpected behavior might relate more to the bees becoming overcrowded in their hive rather than a response to hornet threats.
