10 injured as bees attack devotees in Big Temple

TRICHY: Nearly 10 people, including devotees and tourists, were sent to hospital after a swarm of bees attacked them at the Big Temple in Thanjavur on Saturday. Driven into frenzy accidently by maintenance workers, the bees chased the victims for some metres until they found a shelter.
The attack took place when workers were rectifying some damage on a statue inflicted by a lightning strike a few days ago.Following the incident, temple authorities closed the front gate of entrance to avert further untoward incident.
One of the statues on 'Keralandhgan Thiruvayail', the second gopuram at the entrance of the Big Temple, was damaged after a lightning struck it on June 5. The temple authority had decided to fix the damage and the workers were setting up the scaffold beside the Keralandhagan entrance.
While they were on it, they accidentally stirred up the beehive, triggering waves of attack from the bees. The insects stung the workers, tourists and some devotees who unknowingly entered the entrance.
Workers arockiadass, 32, Vijayakumar, 52, of Keelavasal in Thanjavur, Palanivel, 63, of Karanthai, Ganesan, 48, of Arulmozhipettai, Murugeswaran, 23, of Kalimedu and others were taken to the Thanjavur Government Medical College Hospital for treatment. On being alerted, personnel from Fire and Rescue Services department arrived the state took part in rescue operation.