  Following the detection of a $\sim$300 TeV neutrino potentially associated
with the flaring blazar TXS 0506+056, an excess of neutrinos around its
position in 2014-2015 was revealed by IceCube. However, its contemporaneous
quiescence in $\gamma$-rays is challenging to interpret consistently.
Meanwhile, the blazar PKS 0502+049, positioned within the neutrino localization
uncertainties, was seen to be flaring in $\gamma$-rays. We show that dense,
line-emitting gas clouds that interact with its jet and induce cosmic ray
acceleration and hadronuclear interaction can plausibly explain the 2014-2015
neutrino flare.
