Six workers in Ballito stung by a swarm of bees, two critical

Six men were attacked by a swarm of bees at the Umhlali Country Club and Golf Estate, in Ballito, on Thursday.

The men were stung while mowing the lawn near a beehive.

Salt Rock bee expert, Trevor Thompson, previously told Caxton publication The North Coast Courier that any form of vegetation trimming or mowing of grass around bees causes them to feel threatened.

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IPSS medial rescue and Lenmed paramedics arrived at the scene in Ballito and assessed that two of the men were critical and required advanced life support intervention.

“A total of six people were stung with two of them being critical and requiring advanced life support intervention,” said Paul Herbst, the spokesperson for IPSS Medical Rescue.

The men were taken to hospital after being stabilised by the paramedics.

Centurion bee attack

In October, a group of Centurion residents found out just how vicious bees can be after a swarm of the angry insects left four residents hospitalised.

One man was stung more than 500 times.

A quiet afternoon became chaotic when the bees, which were nesting in an electricity box in the field at the corner of Opperman Road and Frieda Street in Rooishuiskraal, attacked.

Andrew Christie, a 46-year-old resident at the London residential complex, told the Pretoria Rekord he was in the shower when he heard “his children freaking out and his wife calling to him saying there were bees”.

“I didn’t think much of it. I thought it would blow over soon enough, and I was still preparing to go to the shops.

“As I drove out of the complex, I was flagged down by a woman who was hysterical. She said someone was busy drowning in the complex pool and she could not assist because she was allergic to bees.”

When Christie reached the pool, a man was trying to rescue someone out of the pool.

“I later learned the man in the pool was a security guard who jumped into the pool to escape the bees, and the man assisting him was the gardener.

“It was terrifying. As I neared the pair, the gardener who was assisting the security guard in the pool was going into a fit, having convulsions because of the bee stings.”

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Christie and the gardener managed to get the security guard out of the pool. Someone else meanwhile had managed to call emergency services.

“I saw a lot of bees around and they started to sting me. I heard the sirens of emergency vehicles approaching.

“The paramedics told me to get away from the bees and to stop waving my arms.”

Christie said he then ran out of the complex.

“It was crazy. About 20m further, the bees followed and chased me. They were in my ears, in my mouth, and even tried to sting me in the eyes. It was just awful.

“At that stage, more emergency vehicles arrived, but no one could get close to me because I was surrounded by the swarm. I was in agony, they mainly stung me on the head.”

“It was then that a man in a bakkie drove up to me, opened the door, and insisted I get in.

“He exposed himself to the danger and also got stung. But we managed to drive away from the bees and left them behind after driving off. He drove me straight to a nearby clinic,” Christie said.

Christie said he wished he could thank the man in the bakkie for saving his life.

“I don’t know who he is, or even what his name is. I just want to thank him for saving my life. I want to thank him for being such a decent human being.”

ALSO READ: ‘It was just awful’: Centurion man stung over 500 times by bees