A swarm of “aggressive” bees has attacked and stung at least 10 people, resulting in the hospitalization of three individuals.
The incident occurred at a shopping mall in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, local news outlet Excelsior reported.
Firefighters with the Guadalajara Civil Protection and Fire Department responded to the scene after being notified of the incident. The bees were reportedly acting in “aggressive” manner toward people.
Upon arriving at the site, firefighters reported seeing numerous bees flying around the area. They also found several people with stings scattered throughout the parking lot of the shopping center.
Firefighters immediately requested support from paramedics, who arrived at the scene soon after, local news outlet El Occidental reported.
Paramedics treated 10 people at the site. Meanwhile, three individuals had to be taken to hospital.
The firefighters set up a perimeter around the scene to prevent more people from passing through and being stung by the bees.
It is not clear whether or not the bees in question were defending a hive.
Not all bee species live in colonies and nest in hives, contrary to popular belief—many are solitary. Those that do live in colonies will generally not act aggressively towards humans as a group.
But they may attack if they are trying to defend their colony, or are seriously disturbed outside of the nest.
Honeybees will rarely pursue a threat for long distances, although Africanized honeybees—colloquially known as “killer bees”—have been known to chase people for hundreds of feet.
While attacks involving large swarms of bees are not frequently reported, bee stings in general are relatively common.
These stings, which involve the injection of venom into the victim by a female bee, usually only result in mild symptoms. These may include a burning pain in the sting area, itchiness and slight swelling. Usually, these symptoms will subside in a few hours.
But in a small percentage of cases, people may experience anaphylaxis—a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
Figures from one study published in the Journal of Asthma and Allergy show that around 5 percent of the population is hypersensitive to insect stings.
Severe reactions to bee stings require emergency treatment and can even be fatal in the worst cases. In fact, the reaction to bee stings is one of the most common causes of anaphylaxis.
For people who do not have an allergy, death can still occur if an individual.
Newsweek has contacted the Guadalajara Civil Protection and Fire Department for comment.
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A swarm of “aggressive” bees has attacked and stung at least 10 people, resulting in the hospitalization of three individuals.
