WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Dozens of people suffered bites to their feet and other parts of their body after they waded into a part of a river to cool off and were attacked by the flesh-eating fish
Young children are among 40 people injured in a savage piranha attack that sparked the evacuation of a popular beach. One of the victims lost a finger while others were treated for bite wounds, it was reported.
The horror attack came as bathers cooled off in the Parana River, near the city of Victoria in Argentina. Health authorities in the country said the emergency department at Hospital Fermín Salaberry had treated numerous people over the weekend.
Patients included both children and adults, who suffered bite wounds from the flesh-eating fish after they entered the water in areas where swimming is banned.
Beach guard Alejandro Martin said 46 bathers had been injured, with most victims suffering serious injuries. He said he used up three first aid kits trying to treat the injured and that one of the victims had lost the top half of one of their fingers.
As the number of injured swimmers increased, lifeguards ordered bathers to get out of the water and raised a red flag to signal extreme danger.
Hospital officials said: “We remind the community that there are signs on the various beaches where swimming is prohibited, which are intended to protect health and prevent accidents.”
Grisly pictures taken after the attacks last weekend show people with wounds to their feet and other parts of their bodies. Hot temperatures and low river levels were linked to increased piranha activity near the shore during the southern hemisphere’s summer.
The attacks have sparked calls for stricter measures, including from Alejandro, who said he has been pushing for the installation of a two-meter-high protective netting with chains and buoys along the coast to make the beach safer until April.
Local town hall chiefs said a stretch of water where the attack happened would be closed to swimmers and signs would go up warning about the dangers from the fish.
They have also announced a technical study will take place to find out more about piranha attacks in the area.
The attacks come after a toddler died in a horrific piranha attack next to her riverside home in neighbouring Brazil. Two-year-old Clara Vitoria was eaten alive by the carnivorous fish shortly after she fell into a river in Amazonas.
The tragic accident happened when she wandered away from her parents and fell through an unfenced hole in a floating structure.
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