Las Vegas NowAfricanized Bee Attack Injures Man, Prompts Street Shutdown

Africanized Bee Attack Injures Man, Prompts Street Shutdown

The 53-year-old man attacked by a swarm of Africanized "Killer" bees on Saturday remains hospitalized at St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus.  Reports say the man suffered more than 2000 stings--twice as many as first reported--on Saturday. 

Witnesses described it as a scene from a horror film when a swarm of bees attacked a man operating a backhoe.

After inadvertently breaking open an underground hive, a 53-year-old man was attacked by a swarm of bees -- so many paramedics said that when they arrived, the man's entire torso was covered by the angry insects.

It happened late Saturday morning when the victim was digging a trench in the backyard of his son's home off Spencer and Eldorado Drive. The man, operating a backhoe, moved a large boulder exposing a giant hive underneath. The man jumped from the backhoe, trying to escape by running into a vacant yard, but was brought down by the stinging horde.

Firefighters encountering the attack were forced to spray the man down with a fire hose to halt the attack. The man was rushed to St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus where he was listed in stable condition, but undergoing painful removal of the estimated 1,000 stingers, one-by-one. 

Metro shutdown Spencer Avenue between Warm Springs and Robindale and told people in the immediate area to shelter in their homes so they wouldn't come unter attack. Vector Control brought in a bee expert to round up and destroy the swarm.

A Vector Control Officer said he'd never seen such a large hive and estimated its size as well over 50 pounds.

Vector Control also confirmed the bees are the Africanized strain of the insect. Africanized bees are known as Killer Bees because their aggressiveness and ability to attack in swarms.

Africanized bees first came to the Western Hemisphere in the 1950's when a hive escaped and began moving North.