An elderly man died after being attacked by a swarm of hundreds of bees as he was surveying land.
Victor Manuel Rodriguez, 71, had been assigned to measure land at a construction project in the Caribbean port city of La Ceiba, northern Honduras.
A bee colony was nesting on the premises or in its direct vicinity, according to reports by local media.
Victor died at a nearby clinic. The authorities did not indicate whether he suffered from any allergies.
His nephew and co-worker Marco Antonio Zuniga is quoted as saying: “My uncle didn’t notice them. He was unable to escape. We couldn’t do anything to save him. My uncle had stings all over his body.”
Firefighters removed the colony after the incident.
Victor was reportedly attacked by a swarm of Africanised honeybees. Occasionally nicknamed ‘killer bees’, Africanised honeybees are a hybrid of different other species.
Emily Osterloff – who creates digital content for the Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom – emphasised: “Their demeanour has earned them the terrifying nickname of ‘killer bees’, but relatively few deaths are caused in proportion to the number of colonies.”
