Bees swarm at Kolhapur rural hospital, 10 stung

Kolhapur: A sudden swarm of bees attacked the Dattawad Rural Hospital in Shirol tehsil on Tuesday evening, stinging 10 people and triggering panic among patients, relatives and staff. No serious injuries were reported.The incident occurred at the temporary facility operating out of the gram panchayat building near Dasra Chowk, where the hospital has been shifted due to ongoing construction of its main building. The swarm of bees are suspected to have come from a large beehive located on the water tank within the premises."The construction of the Dattawad Hospital building is currently in progress. The hospital has been temporarily shifted to the old gram panchayat building. There is a large beehive on the water tank on the premises of this building. On Tuesday evening, these bees became aggressive and suddenly swarmed the area. Patients and relatives ran to safety, screaming. Many covered their heads and mouths with cloth. Our hospital administration immediately brought the situation under control. The people stung were treated at the hospital. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries," a medical officer said, requesting anonymity.Officials said such incidents have occurred repeatedly at the facility. A similar bee attack last year and another on March 19 had left nine people injured, including two seriously.The officer urged authorities to act promptly. "The administration should pay serious attention to this and immediately remove the dangerous beehives," the officer added.A similar incident was reported in Satara on Sunday during deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde's visit to inspect a cable bridge project in the Tapola-Ahir-Kandati-Koyna section. Bees attacked those present at the site, causing minor injuries to police personnel, activists and journalists, while Shinde escaped unhurt.