The Africanized bees, in a separate incident, also sent 7 people to the hospital

Killer bees were on the attack in the north last week – stinging people at about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday in Libertad Village, and killing 5 pitbull dogs at about 9:00 a.m. on Saturday in Corozal Town.

The individuals who were swarmed and bitten on Thursday were taken to the Corozal Hospital, where 7 of them were admitted to ward. Among those who were stung was a 12-year-old boy who was hospitalized, but none of the cases was critical.

The victims have since been treated and released.

A witness, 37, said that about 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, she was walking in Libertad Village when the bees started to surround and sting her. Two men who saw what was happening rushed to her rescue, and the bees stung them all over their body, as well.

Some of the villagers who tried to help those who were being attacked, were themselves also stung by the swarm. All of the victims, however, managed to run to safety. They were eventually taken by a vehicle and later, an ambulance, to the Corozal Hospital.

A victim told Amandala that the bees became agitated and attacked because of the noise and vibrations being emitted by the machines used to repair the road in Libertad. She said that as the heavy-duty roller passed, the bees became agitated and attacked the driver of the tractor, as well as some men who were constructing the road. The bees then began to swarm, and attacked other people in the area.

A group of people who were campaigning in Libertad for the village council elections said that they were walking on the road around the Baptist Church, and that they saw a large hive of killer bees in the high bush around the church building.

They actually saw the bees attack the operator of the grader, then swarm around a young girl, before they themselves were attacked.

When the bees began to sting the young girl, three of them rushed to her aid, and they believe that without their intervention, she would have died, because hundreds of bees had already stung her.

The campaigners immediately called the ambulance, the Agriculture Department and the Belize Agriculture and Animal Health Authorities (BAHA). BAHA officials killed the bees and burnt the hive later that same day, said the witness.

The campaigners said that they assisted people by driving them away from the area in their vehicle.

On Saturday, more Africanized bees swarmed and attacked a man and his five dogs in his home in Corozal. The man said he heard his dogs barking and went out to see what was happening, and that was when he saw hundreds of killer bees attacking and stinging his five pit bull dogs in his yard.

He tried to rescue them, but the bees then began to attack him, and he had to run back into his house. The bees then proceeded to sting the pit bulls to death. He said that he called the BAHA and the Agricultural Department, but there was no response.

This is not the first killer bee attack in the north. In April, killer bees attacked two children, Pedro Thiessen, 5 and Enrique, 4, in the Mennonite village of Little Belize in the Corozal District. One of the toddlers was killed, but the other survived. The children were playing in the family’s backyard, but when they ran into an open lot located near some bushes, bees swarmed and attacked them.

Jacob Thiessen, their father, ran to assist them, but by the time he reached his children, they were both lying on the ground, covered by the bees.

Enrique and Pedro suffered hundreds of stings to the face, head, arms and abdomen. Enrique did not survive the attack and died on the spot.

During his efforts to help his two children, the father himself was attacked and stung by the killer bees. The doctor who saw Enrique’s body said that he suffered over 500 stings, and the quantity of bee venom his body absorbed was too much for his little body to withstand. He died of respiratory failure.

The doctor said that when he examined Enrique, he saw bees in his nose, and in his mouth. The Agricultural Department subsequently addressed the presence of the murderous bees in Little Belize, and they were destroyed.