Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Man dies while removing bees from apartment roof
SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- It remains unclear how a man working to remove some bees from a roof died.
According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the man died while attempting to remove bees from the roof of a Kendall apartment building Tuesday morning but did not appear to have been stung. "We're going to let the medical examiner's office dictate whether he was stung by bees or not," said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Capt. Al Cruz. "We didn't find any obvious bee stings on the gentleman."
Bee suit-wearing paramedics discovered the man, who police later identified as Jorge Luis Acosta. Witnesses said Acosta had been working atop the building located at 10840 SW 84th St. around 8 a.m., in his protective gear near a swarm of the insects. Paramedics determined he died at the scene.
Police have not said who Acosta worked for, as they found no official contract for the removal work.
Area residents said they saw a lot of commotion at the scene. "There were a bunch of cops, and I thought somebody got killed, so I went outside, and there were a bunch of bees everywhere. It was African bees," said a neighbor. "They said they were African killer bees. Some old guy went up there to collect them for his harvest, and I guess he had a heart attack when he got stung by them."
Officials with both the Miami-Dade Police Department and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue are investigating the cause of death. "It's an unfortunate accident," said Miami-Dade Police Det. Lena Adams. "It's unknown what the cause of death is, but we do know there is a nearby beehive that was apparently disturbed while he was up there doing work."
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Venom Response Team arrived on the scene in order to try and remedy the infestation in the Southwest corner of the structure's roof. Even after the hive was removed, some bees remained at the scene.
Meanwhile, a determination of what may have killed Acosta should be released Wednesday when the official medical examiner's should have their report ready.
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