70 injured after piranha attack in Argentina

A surprise attack by a school of carnivorous fish has injured 70 people bathing in an Argentinian river, including seven children who lost parts of their fingers or toes.

A man is treated for a bite from a palometa, a type of piranha, in Rosario. Picture: AP

Director of lifeguards Federico Cornier said today that thousands of bathers were cooling off from 100-degree temperatures in the Parana River in Rosario yesterday when bathers suddenly began complaining of bite marks on their hands and feet.

He blamed the attack on palometas, “a type of piranha, big, voracious and with sharp teeth that can really bite”.

Paramedic Alberto Manino said some children he treated lost entire digits.

He told the Todo Noticias channel that city beaches were closed, but it was so hot that within a half-hour, many people went back to the water.