Residents Shocked As Argentine Canal Turns ‘Blood-Red’

A canal on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, turned blood-red, sparking panic amongst residents.

Locals expressed concerns that chemicals from nearby factories may have caused the waterway’s piercing reddish-hue.

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WATCH: Argentina canal turns blood-red, alarming locals. Authorities have taken samples to determine what caused it ( infobae) pic.twitter.com/qvHT7dnUQD

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 7, 2025

From The New York Times:

Residents of Sarandí, about six miles south of the capital, told local news outlets that chemicals from several factories and tanneries in the area could have changed the color of the stream, which flows into the Río de la Plata, a major body of water between Argentina and Uruguay.

Rivers in the area have a history of contamination problems. The Matanza-Riachuelo River basin, for example, has been called one of the most polluted waterways in Latin America. Officials have announced major public works projects to prevent sewage and industrial discharges from entering the basin.

The environmental ministry for the Province of Buenos Aires said in a statement that it responded on Thursday morning to a report that the stream in Sarandí was red and that it had taken water samples for testing. It said that the freakish hue could have been the result of “some type of organic dye.” A ministry spokeswoman said on Friday that results of the testing were not yet available.

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Maria Ducomls, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, told Agence France-Presse that she noticed that the stream had turned red after a strong smell woke her up. The Argentine newspaper La Nación described it as a “nauseating smell, like garbage.”

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The Sarandí River in Buenos Aires turned red, alarming locals. Authorities are now investigating the cause of the discolouration.#nocomment pic.twitter.com/ujEixEGMx7

— NoComment (@nocomment) February 7, 2025

Argentina canal turns bright red, alarming residents https://t.co/WHyPORSHZV

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 7, 2025

Daily Mail reports:

A local resident said that she and others awoke to a foul odor Thursday around 5:30am.

‘We looked at the river and it was red, totally red,’ Maria Ducomls told the Associated Press.

‘It looked like a river of blood because, I mean, we have never seen it in those conditions.’

A longtime resident told Clarín newspaper that the canal’s water in the past had turned yellow and caused her family to feel sick.

‘My husband came out of our house and told me that everything was red,’ she explained.

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‘Although it is red, other times it was yellow, with an acidic smell that makes us sick even in the throat,’ she explained.

The Buenos Aires Ministry of Environment immediately dispatched a team of agents to canal, where samples were taken, the agency told Perfil newspaper.

Initial reports indicated that ‘it could be some type of organic dye.’

A local government source told La Nación newspaper that a spill may have originated from a factory or warehouse.

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This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.