Tourists Attacked By Honey Bees In Sun Temple At Konark

Bhubaneswar: At least 15 tourists, including four foreigners, were injured after being stung by honey bees at the world famous Sun Temple at Konark today, police said.

The injured, including children and women, were rushed to a government hospital at Konark.

While nine tourists were discharged from the hospital after preliminary treatment, four foreign nationals and two persons from Chhattisgarh have to be admitted, an attending doctor said.

In view of the incident, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) authorities have stopped the entry of tourists into the temple premises till the beehives are removed.

The ASI has closed its ticket counters for tourists at the main gate as the bee attack took place for the second consecutive day today.

Yesterday, a swarm of honey bees were sighted at the temple resulting in chaos among the tourists.

The bees in hundreds came from a beehive within the temple premises which has reportedly been destroyed by monkeys.

A large number of tourists in Konark were utterly disappointed for not being able to see the 13th Century shrine famous for its sculpture.

The Sun Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.