Three people are fighting for their lives after a highly unusual bee attack in the French town of Aurillac left 24 people injured and emergency services scrambling to respond. The Prefecture of Cantal, in south-central France, confirmed that dozens of passersby were stung over the course of 30 chaotic minutes on Sunday morning.

Firefighters, police and medical teams rushed to the scene as panic spread through the town centre. A security perimeter was quickly set up, and the attack finally subsided once the swarm calmed. The three most seriously injured victims were taken to hospital, with one reportedly suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest and having to be resuscitated in an ambulance, according to Lieutenant-Colonel Michel Cayla, head of the local fire services.

He said: “In terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries, it was impressive.”

Mayor Pierre Mathonier told France 3 the attack may have been triggered by Asian hornets threatening hives which had been placed on the roof terrace of a hotel more than a decade ago.

The disturbance likely caused the bees to become agitated and aggressive. He said the situation had now been contained and praised the emergency response.

He said: “All ended well. The emergency services were perfectly coordinated.”

One of the victims was a 78-year-old man who was stung 25 times, Mr Mathonier confirmed.

While France has rarely seen swarm attacks on this scale, similar incidents around the world in recent years have turned deadly.

In 2013, a 23-year-old Texan died after being stung more than 1,000 times by Africanised honeybees—also known as “killer bees”—outside Waco.

The aggressive hybrids, known to defend their hives in overwhelming numbers, have been responsible for multiple fatalities across the Americas.

In 2022, a massive bee swarm in Arizona killed one man and hospitalised several others when a tree-trimming crew disturbed a hive believed to contain over 100,000 bees.

Emergency crews described a terrifying scene as residents fled indoors and animals were stung to death.

Experts warn that urban beekeeping, combined with factors like climate change and the spread of invasive species such as Asian hornets, could be contributing to more volatile bee behaviour.

French authorities are investigating the exact cause of the Aurillac incident and have since removed the hives involved.