Worker dies after bee attack at California construction site

Three construction workers were hospitalized after being swarmed by bees in Riverside on August 3, 2015.

KABC An exterminator battles bees on Monday in Riverside, Calif., after a construction worker was killed and two others injured by an raging swarm.

The crew was working along the 5200 block of Van Buren Boulevard near a Walmart and a McDonald’s just before 10 a.m. when they came across an underground hive, a Riverside Fire Department news release said.

“The crew was grading a space for a new parking lot and, unbeknownst to them, they ran their blade over an underground sprinkler box that housed this hive of bees”, Riverside Fire Department Battalion Chief Tony Perna told City News Service.

Marquez said colleagues used their jackets to swat the bees and sprayed the man with water to get the swarm off him. “It all happened pretty quick, really”.

One of the other workers was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries, and a third had minor injuries and was treated, fire officials said.

One of the men had an allergic reaction and died after being transported to a hospital in critical condition.

He died shortly after, according to media reports.

Firefighters responded to the scene and reported the bees had calmed down following the fatal attack.

Vector control investigators were called to the scene, and a private bee company was also requested by the construction contractor.

Dozens of bees buzzed around his head as he worked.