Originally published on December 27, 2013

At least 70 people were injured when they were attacked by palometas, a cousin of the piranha, in the Parana River in Argentina on Christmas day. The attack took place off the beaches of the Parana River near Rosario, 300 kilometres north of Buenos Aires.

Officials say the mid-morning attack was "very aggressive" with swimmers suffering bite marks and having entire chunks of flesh taken from their bodies. Some young children lost entire fingers and toes in the attack.

Beach-goers were in the water trying to cool down from a heat wave that saw temperatures soar to 38 degrees Celsius (more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit). Local reports blamed high temperatures and debris possibly left over by fishermen in the water for the attack.

A local government spokesman, Ricardo Biasatti, said such an attack is rare, and that it was an unfortunate incident where a shoal of fish passed through an area full of people.

The attack was the most serious the city has seen since 2008, when 40 swimmers were injured by piranhas.

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