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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A 90-YEAR-OLD villager in Mangwe District was stung to death by a swarm of bees while relieving himself in a toilet at his homestead, police confirmed.
Phinias Moyo of Madabe area died on the spot when the bees, which had built a hive in the toilet for the past two years, pounced on him on Saturday evening.
A member of the family identified as MaMoyo said they heard their grandfather screaming in the toilet and rushed to the scene only to find him lying dead.
“Our grandfather had become frail because of age and he was having difficulties when walking. We heard him screaming in the toilet and when we rushed to check what was happening, we found him dead,” said MaMoyo.
“It appears he fell just outside the toilet after being attacked by the bees because when we went there we found the deadly insects crawling all over his body.”
MaMoyo said the bees that killed her grandfather had built a hive in a crack on the toilet wall and had been there for nearly two years.
She said: “At first they were few but they multiplied over the years but they had not attacked anyone. It is a great tragedy for the family as we have lost a senior member of the family in such as dreadful incident.”
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed the incident.
“We received a report of a 90-year-old man who went into the toilet and as he was coming out was attacked by a swarm of bees. He died on the spot as a result of the attack,” said Insp Ndebele.
“His 19-year-old granddaughter heard him scream and she alerted members of the family. The matter was reported to the police who attended the scene and retrieved the body. Investigations have shown that the bees had been in that place for a period of two years.”
The postmortem was waivered by Plumtree magistrate, Gideon Ruvetsa
Online Reporter