75-yr-old dies in bee attack on yajna

A bee attack at a post-Kumbh yajna killed a 75-year-old man and put many of his family members and villagers in hospital in MP's Shahdol district on Thursday evening. The incident took place at Gura village, around 85km from the district HQ and 560km from Bhopal.

The family had just returned from Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj and decided to hold a yajna, Beohari PS in-charge Arun Pandey told TOI. Many villagers also attended the yajna. Smoke from the havan irritated honeybees in a nearby hive, and the swarm swooped down on the devotees. Everyone ran helter-skelter.

Witnesses say the patriarch, Premlal Kol, also tried to run away but collapsed 200m away, in a field, said Pandey. By the time anyone could reach him, he was dead. He was taken to hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. "A case of unnatural death has been filed, and probe is on," said Pandey.

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