Bees Invade Bawku Kills Man

Bees

A disabled man severely stung by bees which invaded Bawku in the Upper East region, on Tuesday, has died at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.

Amidu Hamidu, 40 years, a blind cripple, was among several others stung who were rushed to the hospital.

They were treated and discharged on the same day, September 11, 2012, after the bees attacked them at Natinga, a suburb of Bawku.

Eyewitnesses told DAILY GUIDE that when the bees were startled, people started running helter-skelter and no one was ready to rescue those with physical disabilities.

As a result, some disabled persons, sitting around the Bawku Central Mosque on that day, could not escape the wrath of the bees.

Eleven persons were initially rushed to the health facility with swollen faces and bodies following the bee attack.

The incident occurred at about 4:30pm and by 5pm, people trading and sitting around the Central Mosque, had deserted the area.

It is not clear what startled the bees from their hive located
between the First National Bank building and the Bawku Central Mosque around the main traffic light at Natinga in the heart of Bawku.

However, there are varying stories from some residents. Some residents said a child threw an object into the beehive and startled the insects.

Another group said the strong perfume a man was wearing made the stinging insects chase him. In his attempt to run for cover, others who did not even know what was cooking started running as well, a situation which apparently startled the bees, which also started running for their dear lives or running after the human trouble makers.

The incident caused so much panic in town that people ran for several metres in disparate directions for their dear lives before even stopping to ask their colleagues what was happening. Surprisingly, most of the people from whom they made enquiries were as ignorant about the cause of the pandemonium as the questioners themselves.

Unfortunately for the blind and lame beggars, the raiding bees vented their spleen on them.

The visually-impaired persons detained at the hospital were Alimatu Yobi, 25, Shaibu Busanga, 60, and Adama Musah, 70.

David Dangbandoo Gumah, a 55-year-old cripple from Binduri was also affected.

After they were treated, some of the disabled were detained at the hospital because they could not settle their medical bills, which ranged between GH¢13 and GH¢20.