Lifeguards at Santa Fe’s Parana River rushed to the aid of families and swimmers when a swarm of piranhas started attacking in shallow water.
Included in the 30 injured victims was a teenage girl, who has since been taken into hospital for emergency skin grafting treatment on her toe.
It has been reported that other victims went to a nearby hospital to have injuries to their fingers and hands treated.
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Sergio Berardi, a union representative for lifeguards in the river, confirmed that the attack was certainly unexpected, blaming it on high temperatures and shallow waters.
Detailing the events, he stated: "We cannot stress enough the importance of heeding the warnings of the lifeguards, especially families with children, now we have seen the damage these piranhas can do.
"When the lifeguards see one of two people being bitten, they automatically order people out of the water, but often this action is not enough or efficient because of the amount of people in the area.
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"On Sunday afternoon the lifeguards on duty were rushed off their feet trying to deal with all the people who suffered bite injuries at the same time.
"These fish tend to move in shoals, so we get a lot of simultaneous attacks.
"We didn’t expect what happened to occur before summer even starts here. If people take a quick dip in the water, they should be okay, but the best thing is to take advantage of the showers that are installed on the beach."
Despite the attack catching everyone off guard, Santa Fe has a history of piranha attacks.
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On Christmas Day in 2013, a not-so-festive assault of piranhas injured 60 people in the very same river.
Piranhas have also been in the news recently for eating a man’s body after drowning in a lake, while he was escaping a bee attack.
The 30-year-old man was fishing with friends before they were all surrounded by a swarm of bees.
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In order to get away, he jumped into nearby water, which was unfortunately infested with piranhas.
His friends made it to safety, but the man’s body was found 4 metres away from the shoreline where authorities saw the piranha-induced injuries.
Experts however, have concluded that the man drowned.
A further piranha-related near-death experience was also had that day, when a fire department officer, who sent to find the man, was about to dive into the lake before being told just in the nick of time that it was full of piranhas.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Food And Drink, UK News