A channel in a suburb of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires became bright red on Thursday, alarming local residents.
Photos and videos show intensely colored water flowing in an estuary, the Rio de la Plata, which borders an ecological reserve.
Local media reports suggest that the color may have been caused by the spill of textile coloring or by chemical waste from a neighboring deposit.
The Ministry of the Environment said in a press release that water samples had been taken from the Sarandà canal to determine the cause of color change.
At the end of the afternoon, the color of the water had lost part of its intensity, reported the AFP news agency.
Residents said that many local companies have toxic waste on the navigable track, which crosses a leather processing area and textile factories about 10 km (6 miles) from the center of the capital.
A resident, a woman called Silvia, told the local news channel C5N that even if she had gone red now, “other times it was yellow, with an acid smell that makes us sick even in the throat “.
“I live in a pâté of stream houses. Today, there is no smell. There are not many factories in the region, although there are warehouses.”
Another resident, Maria Ducomls, told AFP Industries in the region to pour waste into the water, and said that she had seen her colored differently in the past – “bluish, a little green, pink, A little lilac, with fat on top “.
