Hoshiarpur: 5-year-old girl dies after bee attack at school

A five-year-old girl studying at a government primary school in Dada died on Saturday allegedly due to bee stings. Her family accused the school administration of negligence and said the girl’s life could have been saved had they been informed on time.

The victim’s family said she was attacked by a swarm of bees on Friday as she was putting down her cutlery after lunch at school. When her mother went to the school to pick her up at around 12.30pm, she told her she had been stung, they said.

The girl was taken to a doctor in the village, but when she complained of severe pain and nausea, she was taken to the public hospital. After taking medication, she was discharged. On Saturday, her condition worsened and she was again hospitalized, but died during treatment.

“The child was stung by bees several times and had developed an allergic reaction. Her condition was stable when she was discharged on Friday evening, but she was admitted in a critical condition in the morning. The doctors tried everything but could not save her,” said Swati Sheemar, senior doctor.

The family has demanded action against the errant school staff, but school principal Suman Bala said the girl had not complained about anything.

“During the morning assembly, we saw some bees flying around and were repelled. Neither the victim nor any other student complained of bee stings, otherwise we would have taken care of them,” she said.

Till the time of filing this report, the relatives of the victims have not lodged a complaint with the police. District School Superintendent (Primary) Kamaldeep Kaur said she was unaware of the matter as she was on vacation.