If there were any people with apiphobia on the San Antonio highway on Sunday morning they must have had a living, fully conscious nightmare. In an incident that would make for an excellent plot for a disaster/animal invasion movie, a giant truck carrying hundreds of thousands of bees flipped over on the highway in Texas. As a result, angry swarms of bees attacked the area, the situation was beyond the control of authorities who generally have to work with human runaways and fugitives.
Once the 18-wheeler met the accident and the bees got free, there was a moment of complete mayhem. The truck was rolled over on the interchange connecting Interstate 10 and Interstate 35 southbound, above West Elmira Street. The driver was trying to take a turn, which resulted in this disaster. Authorities then called beekeepers from all over the area to help clear the area and contain the out-of-control swarms.
The truck is owned by a bee-removal business but they ended up doing the exact opposite of their job by unleashing these dangerous insects.
It is reported that there were at least 400 hives inside the truck and each of them might have contained anywhere between 20,000 to 25,000 bees in them! Thankfully, not every bee escaped the confines. According to one local news report, at least a thousand of them must have escaped. The fire department and the police were immediately called to the location. A stretch of the road was shut down and everyone around the area was requested to stay inside their vehicle or dwellings till the area could be cleared away.
When the fire officials got there, they could not reach the driver because of being blinded by the thick fog of bees.
The hives that remained inside were sprayed with foam by the fire department, killing all the bees inside the vehicle instantly. The department said it was done for “safety reasons.”
According to KSAT 12, a beekeeper and a pest control company confided in them no bee could be recovered after the accident. Those, in the truck, were killed by the foam, those who got outside flew away. The Alamo Area Beekeepers Association president Rick Fink called the incident unfortunate but did not blame the fire department for killing the bees. He said he was saddened, but he understood the urgency of the situation as well.
There have no reports of any injuries in the accident aftermath. The driver of the truck is safe and did not need to visit the hospital.
Even though there was no loss to humans, there is an estimated property loss of $90,000 (Rs 65,62,305).