Truck carrying bees crashes in Death Valley. Bystanders stung rushing to help driver
Several people were stung by bees while trying to help a driver after his truck crashed and rolled in California’s Death Valley National Park, officials say.
The driver, who suffered “traumatic injuries,” was transporting beehives in a tractor-trailer when he lost control on Sunday, Nov. 5, National Park Service officials said in an emailed news release.
The 35-year-old driver from Las Vegas was descending a steep slope in the road and lost control west of Towne Pass just before 10 a.m., officials said.
The truck rolled several times and scattered the beehives along the side of the road, photos show.
Passersby stopped to help pull the driver out of the truck — and got stung by bees in the process, officials said. Emergency responders with the National Park Service and California Highway Patrol were also stung.
The driver suffered injuries from the rollover crash and the bee stings, officials said. He was rushed in an ambulance to Panamint Springs Resort, transferred to a helicopter ambulance and flown about 120 miles southwest to Antelope Valley Hospital.
Hurricane Hilary damaged highway CA-190, the road the driver was traveling on, in August, officials said. Most of the road reopened Oct. 15, but the road is not yet totally repaired and sections are still missing pavement. There was no flood damage near the crash, officials said.
Death Valley encompasses more than 3 million acres of desert land near the California-Nevada border, according to the National Park Service. It’s the largest national park in the continental U.S., and 93% of the park is considered wilderness.
This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Truck carrying bees crashes in Death Valley. Bystanders stung rushing to help driver."
