Eight students attached to the Academy of Excellence at Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara were treated at the Leonora Cottage Hospital after they were stung by a swarm of bees during a school tour at Hague Settlement Farm on Friday. The ages of the children are between 6 and 11.
Based on reports received, a total of 400 children travelled with their teachers and several parents to the Hague Farm owned by Ganga Persaud as part of a school tour.
Whilst at the farm, the children were put into groups and instructed not to pass certain boundaries and not to pick fruits from particular trees, since the fruits were
Academy of Excellence
treated.
However, shortly after, several bees were observed flying around, and before Persaud could have alerted the students, he heard screams followed by children running out of the farm. The children were taken to safer grounds by the teachers and parents. However, as a precaution, those who were stung were taken to the hospital, where they were examined, treated and sent away.
At the farm on Friday, Persaud told the Guyana Time that while he was surprised
The section of the farm
at the large number of children who had come to visit his farm, which comprises various fruit trees, he had still accommodated them.
“What I tried to do [before] was to put demarcation points that they should not go beyond; that wouldn’t be safe for them…It’s not dangerous, but they’re students. If they should venture and climb a tree and nobody sees them and those things,” Persaud explained.
He recalled that while explaining to a group of children about the history of the farm, he had spotted the bees flying around, and soon after, he heard screams coming from the children. Several of the children were stung, as well as teachers
Farmer Ganga Persaud, aka Bobby
and parents.
Speaking with <<Guyana Times>>, Principal of the Academy of Excellence, Latchmin Gopaul, explained that the eight children who had been stung were accompanied to the hospital by a teacher, and their parents were contacted.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t know the farm had bees. So with the big commotion, with the noise and whatever, apparently the bees were aggravated and they started to come out,” she added.
Meanwhile, several parents lambasted the principal for her decision to take the children to the farm, highlighting that it was a reckless move. Many of them opted not to cast blame, especially since it was later reported to teachers by some other students that two mischievous pupils had tossed rocks at the bees’ hive at the farm, causing the bee attack.
The Leonora Police Station received reports of the incident from parents of some of the children, and the site was reportedly inspected and deemed safe.
