This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
On October 30, 2019, a swarm of bees invaded Mahmoud Bin Fadhil Boys Primary School in Lamu, Kenya, during the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred at around 2:15 pm, shortly after the candidates started their Kiswahili Insha paper.
Over 50 candidates were injured, with five suffering serious injuries.
The injured candidates were rushed to the King Fahad County Hospital for treatment.
Due to the incident, the exam had to be delayed for about 20 minutes as the candidates were transferred to the neighbouring Lamu Mahmoud Bin Fadhil Girls Primary School where they continued with the test.
One of the invigilators, who wished to remain anonymous, described the scene: "We have around 102 KCPE candidates here at Lamu's Mahmoud Bin Fadhil Boys Primary School plus another 12 private candidates. They had just begun their Insha exam which normally takes 40 minutes. They were about halfway when a swarm of bees emerged from nowhere and started attacking them,"
Private candidate Omar Anafolly, who was at the exam centre, said it was a bad day for them.
"We were kept in separate classrooms far from the other candidates since the exams began on Tuesday. We were alerted of the incident by screams from all over the school compound. I could see everybody, including our invigilators, supervisors, police officers and the candidates running helter-skelter. I followed them after realising that bees had invaded the institution. There was nothing we could do. Our invigilators and supervisors told us to run towards Lamu Girls Primary School where we secured some classrooms and completed our exams," said Mr Anafolly.
Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia confirmed the incident, stating that only one candidate suffered serious injuries from the bee stings.
"Yes. It's true. A swarm of bees stormed Lamu Mahmoud Bin Fadhil Boys Primary School as candidates were doing their exams. One candidate was badly injured and taken to the King Fahad County Hospital for first-aid treatment. The rest sustained minor injuries. We've already made efforts to chase away the bees and we expect the pupils will this morning proceed with their remaining exams in the same institution. There is no cause for alarm. All is well," said Mr Macharia on October 31, 2019.
