Four babies and a 60-year-old man are in a critical condition after being stung by bees at a daycare centre on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast yesterday, paramedics said.

Four babies and a 60-year-old man are in a critical condition after being stung by bees at a daycare centre on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast yesterday, paramedics said.

Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said the man and the four babies - all of whom were less than a year old - were rushed to the Stanger Hospital after they were stung by bees.

While details are sketchy, it appears that the man was clearing the garden at the daycare centre in Idube village, near Groutville north of Stanger, when he accidentally disturbed the bees.

Botha said paramedics on the scene told him that there were about 20 people at the daycare centre, but apart from the four babies and the man everyone else managed to flee indoors.

Provincial health officials could not immediately confirm the condition of the man and the four babies. - Sapa