Thousands of piranhas invade popular Brazilian tourist beach

November 17, 2011 – BRAZIL – Thousands of flesh-eating piranhas have infested a beach popular with tourists in western Brazil and have bitten at least 15 unwary swimmers. Officials in the city of Caceres in Mato Grosso state say this is the first time they have had a problem with piranhas at the Daveron beach on the Paraguay river, where the aggressive fish began schooling about two weeks ago. “People have got to be very careful. If they’re bitten, they’ve got to get out of the water rapidly and not allow the blood to spread,” firefighter Raul Castro de Oliveira told Globo TV’s G1 website yesterday. “Everyone knows there are piranhas in the region and have always taken the necessary precautions,” he said. “What is different this time is that they’ve appeared where they never appeared before.” The city has seen far fewer people than normal use the beach recently because of the piranha attacks. It was deserted on Tuesday, a national holiday in Brazil, normally a heavy beach day. Officials have put up large signs with blood-red letters warning swimmers of the risk: “Attention swimmers. Area at risk of piranha attacks. Danger!” Local fisherman Hildegard Galeno Alves said that when he throws out fishing nets near the beach of late, he catches numerous piranhas. “I come here with my kids and I always see blood on the river banks,” he told G1. “The worst is that the attacks are in shallow water, next to the bank.” –SMH

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