A total of six people have been killed in northeast China after a truck carrying dozens of beehives overturned, releasing a swarm of bees which stung three to death and later provoked three further fatalities as two lorries collided while attempting to avoid the massed insects.

The truck bearing the beehives crashed into a farm vehicle near Changchun, the capital of Jilin province, on a stretch of road already responsible for seven deadly crashes in three months, according to the East Asia Economy and Trade News.

Workers clearing the wreckage were obliged to don protective clothing to shield them from the deadly bee cloud, as pictures in the Telegraph show. ®

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