At least two children died and 38 other people were injured when a swarm of bees attacked them along the Anet-Abiemnhom Road in Ruweng over the weekend as they left Abyei due to the conflict there and were traveling home to Mayom County in Unity State.
Mayom County Commissioner Luka Chierey Kuich told Radio Tamazuj on Sunday that the tragic incident happened between Anet and Abiemnhom County in Ruweng Administrative Areas.
“The 38 people were inside several three-wheel motors (rickshaws) when a swarm of bees attacked them,” he explained. “The adults tried to escape the bees by jumping out and onto the road but the children remained rickshaws. Within five minutes, three children were killed by the bees and 38 other people were injured.”
The commissioner advised people traveling to Mayom to move at night for now because of the threat posed by swarms of bees until the police assess the situation and clear the road for use during the day.
“There at least 2,000 of our people who remain in the Abyei Administrative Area and we are working very hard to bring them back to Mayom County,” Commissioner Chierey added.
Meanwhile, Nyakiir Gatmai, a relative of the deceased children, said they fled to Abyei to escape the fighting that erupted in Mayom in January last year.
“The cause of this entire incident is the issue of war that affected the whole of Mayom County last year. Now even the bees have been forced to move to the highlands,” she lamented. “The two children who were killed by bees are sisters aged 2 and 3. The rest of the people who were injured are still in hospital.”