24 people injured in massive bee attack in France
An unusual bee attack in the French town of Aurillac injured 24 people, including three who were in critical condition according to local authorities, but have since recovered.
According to the Cantal prefecture in southern and central France, passers-by were stung over a period of about 30 minutes on Sunday morning.
Firefighters and medical teams rushed to the scene to treat the victims, while police set up a security perimeter until the bees had ended their attack.
The three people, who were in critical condition, were evacuated to a local hospital. Pierre Mathonier, the mayor of Aurillac, told the French television channel BFM TV on Monday that their condition had improved.
One of them was a 78-year-old man who had to be resuscitated after a cardiac arrest and was now in stable condition, he said. The other two "are in good health," he added.
According to the mayor, the incident could be related to Asian hornets threatening a beehive that had been placed on the rooftop terrace of a downtown hotel more than a decade ago. This likely caused the bees to become aggressive, the mayor said.
Mathonier said the beekeeper had removed the beehive and placed it outside the city.
Lieutenant Colonel Michel Cayla, who is in charge of the local fire department, said he had never experienced such an attack. The victim, who suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest, had to be resuscitated in the fire department's ambulance.
"The number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some injuries were impressive," he told the television station TF1.
