A man drowned after he jumped into a reservoir to escape a swarm of thousands of highly-aggressive killer bees after trying to tie his canoe to a tree where they had built their hive.
Donizete Bezerra da Silva, 58, was attacked instantly as he moored by a farm in the municipality of Catalao, Goias state, central Brazil, on Monday, 24th October.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Robson Julio de Souza told local media that the victim appears to have tried to tie his canoe too close to a large beehive.
They added: “He went to tie the canoe to a tree that had a lot of bees and it was that swarm, with thousands of bees at once.”
He jumped into the water along with an unnamed friend to escape the swarm of very aggressive Africanised bees, which are also known as ‘killer bees’.
Donizete drowned with his friend managing to get out of the water and retrieve the farm worker’s body.
The police have launched an investigation into the incident.
Donizete was buried in the Catalao cemetery on 25th October.
