FILE - Honey bees swarming in a plum tree in the Cotswolds, UK. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)
Over a dozen people were injured after an unusual bee attack in France over the weekend.
Twenty-four people in the town of Aurillac were stung over a period of about 30 minutes on Sunday, according to officials.
Firefighters and medical teams rushed to the scene to treat victims while police set up a perimeter until the bees stopped attacking.
3 critically injured
Dig deeper:
Three people were taken to a local hospital in critical condition but have since improved, according to Pierre Mathonier, the mayor of Aurillac.
One of the patients was a 78-year-old person who had to be resuscitated after cardiorespiratory arrest. They are now in stable condition and the other two patients "are in good health," the mayor said.
The attack may have been related to Asian hornets threatening a nearby beehive, the mayor suggested.
The backstory:
The hive was installed on the roof terrace of a downtown hotel more than a decade ago. He said that this had likely caused the bees to become aggressive.
The hive has since been removed and relocated outside the town, Mathonier said.
What they're saying:
Lt. Col. Michel Cayla, in charge of the local fire services, said that he had never experienced such an attack. He said the victim who was in cardiorespiratory arrest had to be resuscitated in the fire department's ambulance.
"In terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries, it was impressive," he told broadcaster TF1.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press.