An umpire died and 20 players were admitted to a hospital after a bee attack during a cricket match in Unnao on Wednesday.

Third umpire Sunil Kumar Nishad told reporters on Thursday: “A swarm of bees suddenly attacked us during a drinks break at the Sapru Cricket Stadium in Gangaghat. Manik Gupta, our chief empire, fell unconscious. We rushed him to a hospital at Shuklaganj in Unnao district and later shifted him to Lala Lajpat Rai Government Hospital in Kanpur, where he was declared dead late in the night. Twenty players stung by the bees are under treatment in the hospital.”

Unnao is 65km south of Lucknow and 25km northeast of Kanpur.

S.N. Singh, the president of the Kanpur Cricket Association which had organised the 40-over-a-side match, told reporters that the bee attack was so sudden that the players and umpires didn’t get time to react.

“They lay on the ground but the bees continued to sting them. Some bees were stuck on Gupta’s face and body when other umpires and players took him to the hospital,” he said. “The match was being played between the Young Men’s Cricket Club and Paramount.”

Singh added that the bees attacked when a drinks break had been announced after
the 18th over of the second innings.

Gupta, 65, had been an umpire for 30 years after playing for a few years.

The police quoted an eyewitness as saying that someone had shaken a large beehive on a mango tree near the cricket ground.

“Gupta was not umpiring at the time of the incident. He was the umpire of a match which had concluded in the afternoon but he was waiting for all matches to end so that they could return home to Kanpur together,” said a police officer.

“We are trying to find out who disturbed the bees. There shouldn’t be a beehive near a public place, particularly when gatherings are organised at the location. The matter should be probed,” said the officer.

Gupta is survived by his wife and four daughters. Three of the daughters are married and the fourth is an Intermediate student.

Kanpur Cricket Association chairman Sanjay Kapur said: “We stand by Gupta’s family and are willing to ensure that all their needs are fulfilled.”

Query to Sengar

Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the stand of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Sengar and others on a plea by the Unnao rape survivor that they be sent to the gallows in connection with the custody death of her father. The convicts are serving a 10-year
jail term.

Sengar is also serving a life sentence for the rape.

Additional reporting by PTI