Man who escaped harm in vehicle rollover then attacked by bees from trailer he'd been towing

A driver crawled "miraculously uninjured" from the wreckage of a vehicle rollover only to be stung by a swarm of angry bees that had escaped from the trailer he was towing, police say.

Police and fire crews were called to remove the vehicle because of the "bee hazard" at the accident scene on the Stuart Highway about 17 kilometres north of Katherine in Australia's Northern Territory, according to Duty Superintendent Louise Jorgensen. "The bees became very angry and they escaped and as he was crawling out of the vehicle miraculously uninjured he got stung by the bees," she said.



Police were called to the accident at about 5:45pm on Wednesday. "The bees presented more of an issue than the wreckage initially," Duty Superintendent Jorgensen said. "We were concerned if people saw the wreckage passing by they were going to stop and get stung as well. It was quite a hazard for the attending police and fire crews."

The four-wheel drive vehicle had flipped and come to rest in scrubland 10 metres from the edge of the road. "He was towing a trailer full of bees when the trailer wheel caught the edge of the road," Duty Superintendent Jorgensen said. "The vehicle and the trailer fishtailed for quite a distance, then the vehicle actually flipped." She said the 18-year-old man was uninjured except for the bee stings.