Honeybee swarm attacks KSRTC bus near Gavi, leaving 17 injured

Seventeen people were injured when a swarm of giant honeybees attacked a KSRTC bus near Gavi in Pathanamthitta district on Monday morning.

The bus, which had 58 people on board including the crew, had departed Pathanamthitta at 5.30 a.m. for Kumily via Gavi. The attack took place around 11 a.m. near Kozhikanam, close to the Vallakkadavu checkpost in Vandiperiyar, an area that falls within the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

According to officials, the driver halted the vehicle on a narrow stretch of road to allow an oncoming car to pass. Within moments, a swarm of bees swept into the bus, triggering panic among the passengers. Travellers rushed to close the windows and shutters, but the insects continued to sting them. Several people jumped out of the bus and ran, only to be pursued and stung again.

Rescue and treatment

Bus driver Rassaq, who was among those injured, reached the Vallakkadavu forest checkpost in a passing pickup jeep and raised the alarm. Forest personnel then arrived at the scene in a bus and a jeep and moved the injured to nearby hospitals.

The victims were taken to the community health centre at Vandiperiyar and the Peerumade taluk hospital. Ten of them were later shifted to the Peerumade hospital, while seven others left for Pathanamthitta on another KSRTC bus from Kumily around 1.30 p.m.

Forest officials said the remote location, which has no mobile phone coverage, made the rescue operation difficult.