VIDEO: Swarm of bees invades football match

A football match in Ecuador came to a sudden halt due to an unlikely pitch invasion - by a swarm of bees.

The game between second division sides LDU Portoviejo and Manta FC was in full swing on Saturday night when a Manta FC player suddenly dropped to the ground in the 27th minute.

Within seconds, other players and officials had followed suit, throwing themselves flat onto the pitch in rapid succession.

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Television commentators were baffled until they realised that they were witnessing a swarm of bees descending on the stadium.

One “could be overhead saying: 'There's one, two, three' as the footballers suddenly threw themselves on the grass”, says the Daily Mail.

A moment later, he said: “We're being informed it's because of a bee attack.”

No injuries were reported. Manta FC went on to win the match 3-2.

Journalist Enrique Zambrano, who was at the match, told Spanish news agency Efe that this is not the first time the Ecuadorian league has seen a bee invasion.

“At the Baltazar Guevera stadium in Santa Ana, two Colón matches were interrupted by bees in 2017,” he said.

On one occasion, “the bees had to be cleared out with fire after they took over one of the goals”.