Bee's sting causes crash, power cut

The truck crashed off the road and into a power pole after the driver was distracted by a bee. Photo / Greg Bowker

A lone bee has been blamed for a truck crash that cut power to more than 1700 east Auckland homes and put the driver in hospital.

The driver, who was last night recovering in Middlemore Hospital, said the insect flew into his face while he was driving his truck and trailer unit on the Whitford-Maraetai Rd about midday yesterday.

As he tried to swat it away, he missed a bend, ploughing through a power pole, bush and Whitford resident Fiona Hugues' wooden fence and stopping only when the vehicle became tangled in power lines.

The truck, owned by Auckland landscaping business Adams Group, came within metres of colliding with a large gum tree.

Mrs Hugues said the power pole "leapt" into the air and crashed into the truck's open trailer.

"It made a hell of a racket ... It was phenomenal, like an earthquake almost."

Power to 1722 houses in the Whitford, Maraetai and Beachlands areas was cut because of the crash, and some were still without power this morning.

Mrs Hugues and her husband rushed to help the trapped driver.

"He had a bump the size of an egg on his head, he was not in a good state. We were concerned about getting too close because of the live wires.

"We kept talking to him to keep him lucid. We talked about family and rugby scores until the ambulance arrived.

"He was talking about the bee, how he was trying to bat it off his face."

The man told the couple he had worked for the company for only three weeks, had five children and was separated from his wife.

He had to be cut from the vehicle by the Fire Service, and was taken to hospital in a moderate condition.

Constable Steve Carey of the Counties Manukau police serious crash unit said that when he arrived "there were power lines all over the road, a lot of mud and the truck was sticking out of the paddock".

Police knew the driver had told witnesses about the bee but had not spoken to him.

The truck was towed to Southern Districts Towing in Manukau where police would examine it.

The road was closed for about three hours as police cleared the scene and power company Vector fixed the lines.

Spokeswoman Phillipa White said all but 25 of the homes affected had power restored by 2pm.

The remaining houses were expected to be without power until this morning.