Fleshing-eating piranhas were seen swimming in the streets filled with floodwater in a major city in Brazil following extremely heavy rain in the country.
Several videos posted to social media showed flesh-eating piranhas swimming in floodwater while others were washed up dead on land in Porto Alegre city of Brazil, Metro reported.
Marine biologists said that the fish were carnivorous and can bite, however, their bite is not fatal.
Local fishermen expressed concerns over the growing numbers of red piranhas as they attack other fish and reduce fishermen’s potential catch.
While the red piranhas are not indigenous to Rio Grande do Sul state, an increase has been recorded in their population in the last three years.
Following the heavy rains in Brazil, several fish were seen in Lake Guaiba while other made their way into flood-hit streets.
‘The presence of piranhas in Guaiba occurred due to the transposition of waters from the Uruguay and Jacuí rivers into the Guaiba lake,” said one expert.
The fish, previously found in the lake, now have invaded the city’s flooded streets, he added.
A Brazilian social media influencer also shared a video of the piranha swimming on the streets.
She wrote: ‘The presence of these fish in the waters that flood the city’s streets is a result of the expansion of river basins in recent years.”
The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state climbed to 150, the local civil defense government body said on Sunday while dozens of people remain unaccounted for.
Storms and floods battering the South American country’s southernmost state have also left around 537,000 displaced, according to the local civil defense body, a significant increase over the 340,000 reported.
About 446 urban centers have been impacted, affecting the lives of more than 2.1 million people in a state whose population is about 10.9 million.
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