CHUKAI: A man working for the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) died after he was stung by a swarm of bees while collecting honey at the agency’s farm in Ayer Putih near here yesterday.
Kemaman police chief Razi Rosli said the incident occurred at 9.50am when the victim, Hafizul Mat, 40, a general worker, was at Mardi’s Kemaman branch at Km18 of Jalan Ayer Putih with a colleague.
“The victim’s 44-year-old colleague had advised him against collecting the honey because the beehive was on a dry tree about 3m tall, but the victim insisted on proceeding.
“The victim asked his colleague to wait about 50m from the beehive before climbing the tree to collect the honey, but he was attacked by a swarm of bees,” he said in a statement today.
Razi said the victim then shouted at his colleague to run as the bees swarmed him.
"He then climbed down and jumped into a nearby pool of water to avoid being stung any further," he added.
Razi said the victim later complained of pain in his arms and legs from the bee stings before getting out of the pool and collapsing with convulsions.
“The victim’s colleague then sought help from two other co-workers before calling an ambulance. The victim was taken to Kemaman Hospital for emergency treatment,” he said.
However, Razi said, the hospital confirmed that the victim died while receiving treatment at 6.42pm.