A swarm of bees stung two men to death in the Western Cape town of Malmesbury on Thursday night.
The homeless men ran away from the frenzied swarm of bees and both collapsed in front of shocked bystanders outside the Spur restaurant in Rainier Street at about 18:00.
Restaurant patrons who were having dinner called the Spur manager, who then called the police and an ambulance, said Duelinda Chetty, a Spur waitress.
Ran for 500 metres
Malmesbury police spokesperson Constable Hennie du Randt said the deceased were identified as Johannes van Nieuwenhuize and Dirk Beneke.
Their ages were not known, but they were estimated to be in their late thirties or early forties.
The bodies of the two men lay centimetres from each other while people gathered at the scene.
“A bystander went to buy a can of Doom to chase off the bees,” said Chetty.
A third man, Dirk du Preez, 45, was in a stable condition in the Swartland Hospital and was expected to be released on Friday, said Du Randt.
He said the men wanted to go sleep next to the river when the bees attacked them.
The three men ran about 500 metres before collapsing.
The homeless men, who usually sleep next to the Diep River, which flows through the town, presumably disturbed the beehive before being attacked.
Stings seen on skin
According to Du Randt, members of the police’s forensic team had confirmed that the cause of death was bee stings and that the “bee stings could still be seen in their skins and faces”.
Police would however still hold a post-mortem to determine whether other factors also played a role in their deaths.
“The post-mortem will determine whether they perhaps had any allergies and if they did die due to the bee stings.
“We can confirm, however, that they were attacked by a swarm of bees. They possibly wanted to take out honey, but our investigation will determine this,” said Du Randt.
The Swartland fire department and a bee expert will investigate on Friday, to determine which kind of bees were involved.
The bees attacked no one else.
According to one of the other homeless people at the scene, “Oom Johan (Nieuwenhuize) always shared his stuff with everyone”.
“We have been attacked by the bees before,” the man added.
[ Story by Johann Maarman,Die Burger]