Man Dies After Jumping Into Piranha-Filled Lake To Escape Swarm Of Bees

A 30-year-old man in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais drowned in a lake over the weekend, after he jumped in the body of water to escape a swarm of bees but ended up being attacked by piranhas, authorities said.

The unnamed man was fishing with his two friends by a lake located on a rural farm in the municipality of Brasilândia de Minas when the trio were attacked by a swarm of bees and forced to jump into the lake, the local fire department said, according to 7News.com.au.

The man's two friends were able to swim to safety, but he was nowhere to be found after the bee attack, according to the outlet.

The fire department was called in and an officer was about to dive into the lake when he was informed it was filled with piranhas.

Officers reportedly managed to recover the man's body around 4 meters (13 feet) from the shoreline after hours of searching.

The firefighter responsible for the rescue said the man "had his face and other parts of his body torn apart," a report by Brazilian newspaper Estado de Minas said.

The man's body was later released to his family for funeral arrangements.

While piranha attacks on people have been documented before, Brazilian scientist Ivan Sazima found that the fish only attacked dead humans.

A similar incident happened in the Indian state of Himachal in late September when a mother and daughter fell off a cliff and died while running away from a swarm of hornets.

The mother, identified as 32-year-old Tripta, and her daughter, Isha, were cutting grass on a hill near the Bhardota area of Chamba on Sept. 22 when they were suddenly attacked by hornets.

The two tried to run away in an attempt to save themselves, but Isha slipped and fell off a cliff. Tripta tried to save her daughter and dived into the 656-foot-deep forge below as well, which resulted in her and Isha dying.

The people who were working with the mother and daughter duo later recovered their bodies.

Police reached the scene after the incident was reported and both bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital at Tissa for autopsy.

Authorities returned Tripta and Isha's bodies to their family following the post-mortem.