Thousands Of Bees Attack Texas Couple, Kill Horses

PANTEGO, Texas — A swarm of about 30,000 bees attacked a North Texas couple as they exercised their miniature horses, stinging the animals so many times they died.

Kristen Beauregard, 44, was stung about 200 times, and her boyfriend about 50 times, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Saturday ( ). http://bit.ly/12RiVMA

But the horses, Chip and Trump, were so covered in bees they shimmered. Neither could be saved.

"They were chasing us down, they were following us," Beauregard said of the incident Wednesday evening. "We swept up piles and piles of them ... it was like a bad movie."

The bees are being tested to see whether they are Africanized or "killer" bees. It is unclear what prompted them to leave the hive.

Beauregard was exercising Trump, a Shetland pony, when he started to jump and kick, she said. That is when a cloud of bees started stinging them all over. Trying to escape, she jumped in the pool and the horse followed.

"It got all dark, like it was nighttime there were so many bees," she told the newspaper. "We were trying stand up in the water but every time we stuck our heads out for air, they would cover us and start stinging us. We were trying to breathe and they were stinging us in the face and in the nose."

She escaped to the house, and her boyfriend called 911. Bees chased her, crashing into the windows of the house. Trump ran through the yard, rubbing against bushes in an attempt to wipe off the bees.

Beauregard's boyfriend called 911 and firefighters arrived with special gear and a foam substance used to clear the bees. They were able to drag the horses to a pasture where police and paramedics tried to treat them.

Chip, a 6-year-old show horse, died before a veterinarian arrived. Trump was sedated and taken to equine veterinarian Patricia Tersteeg's clinic.

"He was so overwhelmed by bites that his body could not handle it," Tersteeg said. "That's way too much for any 250-pound mammal to survive."

The bees also killed five hens, and stung the couple's dog.

___

Information from: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, http://www.star-telegram.com

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Greg Kendall-Ball, The Abilene Reporter-News / AP

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Indianapolis Bus Crash Near Interstate 465 Results In Multiple Deaths

By RICK CALLAHAN
INDIANAPOLIS — A bus carrying teenagers returning to Indiana from a church camp in Michigan crashed Saturday afternoon just minutes from home, killing three people and sending 26 others to hospitals, officials said.

The bus came speeding off of Interstate 465 in northern Indianapolis, about a mile from the Colonial Hills Baptist Church that passengers attended, struck a retaining wall as it rounded a curve and overturned. The campers were returning from Camp CoBeAc in northern Michigan, about six hours away.

The church's youth pastor had sent a tweet a couple of hours before the crash saying the group was expected to arrive at the church about 4:15 p.m., around the time the accident happened.

"They were not that far from home. That only adds to the tragedy," said Indianapolis Public Safety Director Troy Riggs.

The dead included a man and his wife, Riggs said. Authorities did not provide information about the third victim.

Riggs and Mayor Greg Ballard visited the crash scene, where clothing, pillows and seat cushions from the bus were scattered along with at least two shattered windows, before they headed to the church. Riggs said there was no indication that the driver had a medical emergency and called the accident "a great tragedy."

Ballard said investigators were taking measurements and examining the bus to determine the cause of the crash.

WTHR-TV reported the bus driver told witnesses his brakes failed. Indianapolis Fire Department Lt. Ato McTush said police and fire officials had not determined whether the church-owned bus, which was carrying 37 passengers plus the driver, had mechanical issues.

Duane Lloyd told WTHR that he heard a loud noise behind him as he was traveling near the intersection and saw the crash around 4:15 p.m.

"I heard a skid. I looked back. I see this bus in the air and people falling out of the bus," Lloyd said. "I could have gone my whole life without seeing that."

Karen Woodard, a member of Colonial Hills Baptist Church, cried as she stared at the wrecked bus.

"It's so terrible. I can't believe it," she said.

Indianapolis Fire Department said crews had to free five people who were trapped inside after the crash. Several people stopped to help before first responders could arrive, including one man who helped pull the driver out of the bus, the department said.

"People were stopping their cars. People were literally trying to lift the bus," Lloyd said. "You just try to do what you can do."

Fire officials said the injured included children and adults.

Nine teenagers were taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital, including one in critical condition. Three of those were treated and released, hospital spokeswoman Sally Winter said. She said 10 others, including nine teenagers and a toddler, were taken to Riley Hospital for Children. Seven of those teenagers were treated and released, Winter said.

Many of the patients were suffering head, arm and leg injuries, fire officials said.

Roads near the scene were closed, and authorities urged people to use caution in the area. A hazardous materials crew was cleaning up diesel fuel that spilled in the crash.

Outside the church, a yellow school bus with the church school's name was parked outside with piles of sleeping bags and suitcases nearby. Families hugged outside and talked quietly before going inside, where they met with Ballard and Riggs Saturday evening.

Ballard described the families as "remarkably positive" despite their sorrow.

"Some of the teenagers are hurting pretty bad and you can see that in their faces," he said.

Church member Jeff Leffew, 44, of Fishers, who had three daughters on the bus that crashed and a fourth on a second bus, said he was waiting to pick them up in the church parking lot when the second bus arrived. He said he knew immediately that something was wrong because the kids on the bus were screaming.

He went to the crash scene and found his three daughters with only bumps and bruises.

He called the crash scene "surreal."

"You're just praying that it's not as bad as it looks," he said.

HuffingtonPost

A tale of two “ungratefuls”: The Presidency and Nyako bite at each other, again

Adamawa Governor, Murtala Nyako and President Goodluck Jonathan are not strange bedfellows. Heck, it will be hard to even find them in the same house when all they talk about is ingratitude and unfairness.

Nyako has accused the President of being unfair and ungrateful. Apparently, the President is also guilty of concentrating too much on the South-South, while ignoring challenges elsewhere. The governor is also unhappy at his treatment by the Peoples Democratic Party in spite of the ‘sacrifices’ on behalf of the President.

Speaking through his spokesman, Mallam Ahmad Sajo, he said a lot of things. Let’s break it down for you.

Because of you, I was called a dan wuta

Nyako said that the President was successful in 2011.

In his words, “President Jonathan has been ungrateful to Governor Murtala Nyako. In the first instance, you should understand that during the nominations, Jonathan contested with a son of Adamawa.

“If he won Adamawa State, the governor swam against the tides. Immediately after that, they started sending him (Nyako) text messages, calling him a kafir (infidel), dan wuta (hell bound son) and all that. They said he backed a Christian against Muslims; he went through all that humiliation.

“At the federal elections, Nuhu Ribadu is a son of Adamawa. Nyako worked for Jonathan to defeat Ribadu.

With Tukur, this party will kill itself

On his dispute with PDP HQ, Nyako said that the PDP was on a path of self-destruction.

“What we are saying is that a political party is a free association of people of like minds. And there are always ground rules for running a political party.

[READ: “We only have political differences”: Yola’s Nyako plays down talk of a rift with PDP’s Tukur]

“What we are saying is that at the rate the party is moving, it will surely kill itself.

“Don’t forget that in the past four months, they have set up different reconciliation committees but they have been unable to reconcile because of the bottom line.

On the ‘saving the nation’ tour, it was all about the South South

Four northern governors, including Nyako, recently paid visits to three former Nigerian leaders – Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida. The other governors being Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa).

[READ: Debrief: What exactly went on at IBB and Abdulsalami’s meeting with the northern governors]

Here is why they went cross country.

“We have said it several times that everything is tilted towards the South-South. It is not a question of Kano, Niger, Sokoto or Adamawa or just the North. Everything is tilted towards the South-South, appointments, contracts are given to militants; the issue is beyond just Kano.

“The South-West, North-West, North-East, North-Central have all been marginalised. Only last week, they approved a contract of N4bn for the expansion of the Onne Port in Rivers State with just about N1bn to the power plant in Jebba.

“If you consider all the major ongoing projects in Nigeria today, they are based in the South-South.

In response to all this, the presidential special adviser, Ahmed Gulak, said it was Nyako, who was being ungrateful to the President.

In his words, “It is Nyako, who is ungrateful to Mr. President. He did not know how the PDP came about. He was in the opposition All Peoples Party when he was brought in and handed the ticket to become governor of Adamawa State. The party mobilised the people to vote for him. You can check the records, Nyako did not mobilise votes for the President.

And the infighting continues.

YNaija