Teen drowns in Belize River after bee swarm attack

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A quiet walk along the Philip Goldson Highway turned to tragedy on Friday, August 7, 2026, when a 17-year-old girl drowned in the Belize River after she and her father were attacked by a swarm of bees near mile 7, sending the teen into deep water from which she never resurfaced.

The attack came at about 1:00 p.m., as the girl and her father, residents of Lord’s Bank who often walked that route together, passed a tree stump where the bees were nesting. The swarm descended on them both, and in the chaos that followed, as passersby rushed to assist her father, the teen went into the river, likely to escape the stings. That stretch of the river is said to be about 20 feet deep, and the girl, who could not swim, was unable to get back to the surface.

What followed was an hours-long search that drew together the Belize Coast Guard and eight civilian volunteers from 501 Lifeguard, who waded and dove through dark, murky water until about 3:30 p.m., when her body was finally recovered.

Tevin Conorquie, the 501 Lifeguard swimming instructor who first located her, described the ordeal, speaking to local media. “All we could have done was free dive and try to scan the area,” he said. “Due to the darkness of the water, it was intense for us to see but we still pulled through, we had the faith and the courage and we did what we had to do.” The team spent some three to four hours in the water, in conditions Conorquie called very difficult, “due to the fact that we know there may be crocodiles with us as well.”

When the teen’s brother arrived and the loss became real, the rescuers’ work turned from search to solace, the 501 Lifeguard team circling him in prayer. “With our team it’s just love,” said the organization’s owner, Andrew Gentle, noting that his instructors left their swimming classes to answer the call, and the whole team came.

The recovery weighed on the professionals too. “It’s never easy because you’re talking about the loss of life,” said Rear Admiral Gregory Soberanis, Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, which responded to the request for dive operations. “There were times when I myself shed tears because of the situation. Especially when you’re talking about a young person such as the one today.”

The girl’s father is currently recovering in hospital. The family shared that the teen was living with autism and resided with her father. Officials have since sprayed the area where the bees were nesting.

Breaking Belize News extends its deepest condolences to the family, and its gratitude to the divers and volunteers who refused to leave the river without her.

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