High tension bees

Wednesday morning I was at work in the office and Barb was shopping on the main street when I heard someone saying that crowds of people were running away from the main street area (just 1/2 mile away). Gunshots were heard. Some people ran to the compound next to the office, seeking shelter. Why were they fleeing? No one was sure.

Given the tensions after the recent riots that killed hundreds of people, this qualified as an "event" to be investigated and reported up the chain. Was there a new outbreak of violence in the center of town? A bank robbery?

Chris Cowie walked over to the compound to investigate while I phoned our driver, who was taking Barb on her shopping errands. I could hardly hear the driver because of noise and a bad connection, but I heard him say that nothing was really wrong though people were excited.

Later, Barb told me that people had suddenly been running down the street, and that soldiers had quickly arrived and tried to restore order. One of them may have shot into the air. The owner of the grocery store where Barb was quickly shut the doors and brought down the security door.

Accounts varied at first, but by the end of the day they converged on the story that bees had been responsible. In one version, just one bee stung someone and triggered the frenzy. In another, some people tried to smoke out a hive of bees not realizing they had another exit, so the swarm came after them.

Bees here can be dangerous, so it's not surprising people started running. But the way the events played out shows how high the tensions still are here. People are going about their business, but in the back of everyone's mind is the thought that things could turn violent again. I know I feel that way, not even having witnessed any of the violence this time, so how much harder it must be for those who saw their houses burned or their friends and families attacked and maybe killed.

See My neighbor, my killer, my neighbor, my savior, by our friend Carmen, for the best first-hand description of the recent crisis.

Photo by Axel Bührmann and licensed with Creative Commons Share-Alike license.