Buzz off! Bizarre scenes in Malawi as Hillary Clinton and her team are forced to flee swarm of bees at airport
- Insects sparked panic among her detail at airport
- Mrs Clinton forced to run for cover and board her jet
- Historic visit was part of an 11-day African tour
By LEON WATSON
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Hillary Clinton and her team of crack security agents were driven onto a plane and out of Malawi after being attacked by a swarm of bees today.
The U.S. Secretary of State was due to depart from the southern African state when the insects sparked panic among her detail.
Mrs Clinton ran for cover and boarded her jet before flying out of Kamuzu International Airport in the capital, Lilongwe, to Johannesburg, South Africa.
On arrival: A girl hands flowers to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she arrives at Lilongwe Kamuzu International Airport in Malawi. Six hours later she was attacked by a swarm of bees
It brought a swift end to her historic six-and-half hour diplomatic mission, which is part of a whistlestop 11-day African tour.
According to eye witnesses, scores of both Malawians and Americans including security agents scampered in different directions to take cover.
'There was a slight panic as the bees winged across the airport. People could be seen running away to keep cover as the Secretary of State swiftly boarded her plane to avoid any stings,' a witness told the Nyasa Times.
A State Department official didn't respond to an immediate inquiry about the accounts.
Mrs Clinton undertook three engagements in Malawi which included holding bilateral talks with President Joyce Banda at the State House.
She also congratulated Banda, one of only two female heads of state in Africa, for pulling her impoverished country back from the economic brink after a political crisis.
The U.S. Secretary of State has, among others, pledged a financial support of $36million to strengthen Malawi's agricultural value chain.
Hillary Clinton is dressed by Emmie Phiri, chairwoman of the dairy farmers during her visit to Malawi
Clinton paid the lightning visit to Malawi to congratulate its new president, Joyce Banda, one of only two female heads of state in Africa, for pulling her impoverished country back from the economic brink after a political crisis
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, meets with Malawi's President Joyce Banda at the State House in Lilongwe. This is the first visit to Malawi by any U.S. Secretary of State
Mrs Clinton made the pledge when she visited dairy farmers under the Lumbadzi Milk Bulking Group, some 8kms North of Kamuzu International Airport, the Nyasa Times reported.
The group is one of the U.S .Government's funded food security programmes under the recently launched US Feed the Future Presidential Initiative.
Mrs Clinton, who is also the chairwoman of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, said the financial support will be given to Malawi stretched in three years time.
Malawi is a recipient of more than $200million U.S. Government aid in health, education, agriculture, economic growth and governance, among other sectors.
The U.S. Secretary also visited Lilongwe Girls Secondary School in the capital where she addressed children who are part of another U.S. project, Camp Grow Malawi, which was initiated in the country by U.S. peace corps.
The wife of former American President Bill Clinton began her 11-day African tour in Senegal and has already been to Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya and her focus has been on terrorism, Chinese economic development in Africa and democracy.
She is expected to wind up her African tour on August 10 in Ghana where she is expected to attend the state funeral of the country's President John Atta Mills who died on July 24.
Mrs Clinton becomes the second highest ranking official from the U.S. government to visit Malawi after U.S. former Vice President Dan Quayle in 1991 during the reign of Malawi's founding president Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184296/Hillary-Clinton-chased-Malawi-swarm-BEES.html#ixzz22lu88h8y
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