Christmas nightmare: Piranha attack in Argentina leaves 60 injured

GlobalPost

A piranha attack fit for a horror movie injured 60 swimmers in Argentina on Christmas Day.

Around 20 children were hurt, including one who lost a finger, after the meat-eating fish swarmed bathers near the city of Rosario, 300 miles north of Buenos Aires.

Locals headed to Parana River beach on Dec. 25 to cool off in the current heat wave when they were surrounded by the aggressive fish. Swimmers charged out of the water bleeding from their extremities.

Victims suffered bites to their hands and feet, and were treated by paramedics who rushed to the scene.

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It is believed that the piranhas were attracted to bait left behind by local fisherman.

A paramedic described the extremely rare attack as "very aggressive."

"This is not normal. It's normal for there to be an isolated bite or injury, but the magnitude in this case was great ... this is an exceptional event," said the city's director of emergency services.

The beach was quickly shut down after the attack.

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