On Monday, May 8, a swarm of Africanized bees attacked a bus carrying around 45 passengers, leading to the death of six individuals, including an eight-year-old girl.
The bus was traveling from Jinotega to San Sebastián de Yalí in the northwest part of Nicaragua, when it experienced a mechanical issue and plunged 165 feet down a ravine, finally stopping in a coffee plantation. Although all passengers survived the initial crash, the bus struck several beehives, which agitated a swarm of bees that attacked the passengers.
The aggressive insects relentlessly stung the victims, ultimately resulting in six fatalities. The deceased individuals are Santos Arnulfo Calderón Castellón, 38; Reyna Isabel Olivas Montalván, 84; Kenia Jazmín Soza Bonilla, 19; Dilcia Flores Amparo, 32; Eneyda Tórrez Zelaya, 47, and her eight-year-old daughter Andrea Carolina. Fourteen other passengers suffered severe injuries during the incident.
Local firefighters arrived on the scene and used foam to subdue the swarm while evacuating the children from the bus. Survivors were treated at a nearby health center or transported to a larger hospital in Jinotega. Disturbing images show several survivors with hundreds of painful stings covering their bodies.
The Africanized honey bee, also known as “the killer bee,” is a hybrid of the African honey bee and the European honey bee. Brazil imported African honey bees in 1956 to boost honey production, but in 1957, several bees escaped and interbred with European honey bees.
Hybrid Africanized bees are among the most dangerous breeds of bees and have caused over 1,000 documented deaths in Brazil since the mid-1950s. They have also spread to other countries, including Nicaragua and the United States.
In 2014, an Arizona landscaper died after being attacked by 800,000 Africanized bees in a house’s attic. In 2018, thousands of these lethal insects swarmed a Walmart in Wallis, Texas, and one man required hospitalization.
