While they know a swarm of angry bees stung a terrorized field worker who then died, authorities Wednesday were trying to determine the exact cause of death of the 49-year-old man.
The insect attack victim went into cardiac arrest and firefighters tried to resuscitate him, but he died at the scene of the field attack, according to an official with the Riverside County Fire Department.
It was still unclear how many times the man was stung or what may have prompted the deadly swarm to start stinging in the eastern Riverside County town of Thermal.
The victim was identified as Gerardo Balbuena of Thermal, the coroner’s office reported.
Riverside County firefighters responded at 9:31 a.m. Monday to the area of Avenue 73 and Fillmore Street, where Balbuena was stung while working in a field and began suffering a medical emergency, April Newman of the Riverside County Fire Department said.
Balbuena went into cardiac arrest and firefighters tried to resuscitate him, but he died on scene, Newman said. It was unclear how many times he was stung.
The exact cause of death remained under investigation.
— City News Service