Bees swarm Manila airport

MANILA, Philippines, May 19 (UPI) -- A swarm of bees Thursday temporarily disrupted operations at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport in the Philippines, officials said.

There were so many bees, controllers were unable to get near the control booth, GMA News reported. The bees also prevented workers from attaching movable sidewalks to arriving airplanes.

Workers used smoke to subdue the insects, and then sucked them up in giant vacuum cleaners.

ABS-CBN News said the bees might have escaped from a cage brought into Manila by a rural passenger.

Airport general manager Jose Angel Honrado ordered an investigation as to the bees' origin and how they got to the airport.

The bees were cleared out in about 30 minutes, officials said. At least one person was stung.