A fender bender on Los Amigos Street in La Canada Flintridge must have seemed pretty typical for Sunday afternoon — until a humming swarm of bees descended out of the trees and attacked.
The accident happened at 2:49 p.m. when cars driven by a 51-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl collided. At some point during the accident, one of the cars also hit a tree. As the two drivers stepped out to exchange information, the bees swarmed, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sergeant Jose Larios.
"The 51 year-old, fearing for her life, ran to the rear of a residence where she jumped into a swimming pool, while the 17 year-old fell to the street," Larios reported.
Police believe the accident disturbed a hive somewhere in the branches above the accident.
When officers showed up, the girl was still lying in the street. A deputy sprayed her with a fire extinguisher to chase the insects away, then they both took off running. The deputy later had to spray the girl off with a hose to remove even more bees, while the fire department rescued the woman from the pool.
The woman and the girl both suffered hundreds of stings, police say.
The bees also swarmed into about a dozen nearby cars.
Crews later called in a professional bee keeper to clean up the scene. It was unknown Sunday night if the bees were an ordinary breed or if they were Africanized "killer bees."
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