An estimated 800,000 bees attacked a group of gardeners in southern Arizona on Wednesday, leaving one man dead and another critically injured, fire officials said. The 32-year-old deceased — who went into cardiac arrest — was covered on his face and neck by the killer swarm, Capt. Ray Luzania of the Douglas Fire Department told the Arizona Daily Star. The injured gardener reportedly was stung more than 100 times.
Luzania said the hive was four feet wide and six feet long. The bees, believed to be Africanized honey bees, were roused from their hive when one man in the crew of four turned on a lawnmower, Douglas officials said. The two victims were taken to the hospital where one later died, reported NBC affiliate KVOA in Tucson. Neither has been publicly named.
