Islamic prayers ended abruptly, when a swamp of bees invaded the Sunyani Central Mosque and caused havoc on Friday, October 18, 2024.
The hundreds of Islamic congregants gathered for the prayers fled the mosque with their faces covered to escape the attack, which occurred around 1320 hours.
They were observing the usual Friday prayers when the incident happened. However the timely response of some personnel of the Bono Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service and the Ghana Ambulance Service saved the situation.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered that though GNFS personnel were able to rescue some of the Muslims, the bees did not spare congregants, especially the aged and some women who were trapped as a result of the pandemonium.
Shop owners and some petty traders around the central mosque along the Sunyani-Zongo one-way were also not left out from the attack, as the bees ran amok in the neighbourhood.
The Assistant Divisional Officer Grade One (ADO1) Kwame Adomako Antwi, the Bono Regional Public Relations Officer of the GNFS confirmed the story to the GNA and added that the bees attacked some of the fire personnel too.
He said the victims had since received medication.
ADOI explained that the service received a distress call on an alleged fire outbreak at the mosque, but the personnel arrived at the mosque only to realise that it was rather the bees which had invaded the mosque.
During a visit to the Sunyani Zongo, some of the Muslims told the GNA that they were shocked and surprised about the invasion, saying that was the first time it had happened at the mosque.
-GNA