Six people stung to death by killer bees

Six people are dead after being attacked by killer bees after a bus accident.

The incident occurred when a coach left the road in Nicaragua and crashed at a location where African honeybees were kept in hives.

There were around 60 passengers on board and around 45 people were stung as they tried to leave the vehicle.

The coach had plunged more than 160 feet off the road and disturbed the bees in the wooden hives where they were being kept.

The dead include a 47-year-old woman known as Eneyda Zelaya, her daughter, Carlina Garcia Torres aged 8 and an 84-year-old woman. A four-year-old boy is said to be in hospital in a serious condition.

Africanised honeybees are known as the ‘killer bee’ and are a hybrid of the western honeybee. But they are more aggressive and chase people further than other honeybee varieties.

They have killed around 1,000 humans and are also said to be responsible for the deaths of horses and other animals.

The insects spread through South and North America after they were introduced to Brazil in the 1950s and escaped quarantine.

Reports into the accident are still ongoing but it is thought the driver lost control of the vehicle due to a mechanical fault.