Child, driver critical after bee attack in Putfontein

A young child and the driver of a taxi were left in a critical condition after being attacked by a swarm of bees on Putfontein Road in Benoni late Tuesday afternoon.

Chris Botha of Netcare911 said paramedics raced to the scene at about 4.30pm after reports of children, aged between five and seven, being stung by bees.

He said the taxi was travelling along Jones Road when a moving swarm of bees came through the windows and stung the eight children and driver.

“Paramedics worked fervently to stabilise the children and found that a child and the adult were critically injured while the other children were in a serious condition. After they treated the injured at the scene, they transported them to a local hospital,” Botha said.

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Botha said this time of the year is known for swarms of bees to split and move to start a new hive. It is commonly referred to as swarming season.

As a rule these bees do not pose a threat and often can be seen flying across the sky looking like a big black cloud. The problem, however, is when one starts to sting as a defence mechanism it gives off a pheromone which causes the rest of the bees to go into an attack mode.

Advice is that if you spot the clouds of bees flying and you are in a car, please keep the windows closed.