As storms battered the UK over Christmas, at the same time sixty sunbathers in Argentina were bitten by piranhas.
The mass attack took place on Christmas Day at a popular river beach in the city of Rosario.
People there were trying to escape the heat as temperatures climbed to 100ºF. Swimmers, bleeding from bites, suddenly began to run out of the water, shouting for help.
Parents went the other way, racing into the river to grab their children.
But more than 20 children and some 40 adults were bitten as a shoal of meat-eating fish launched a surprise attack.
A seven-year-old girl lost part of her finger and a young boy suffered an open fracture in his hand.
Other swimmers suffered deep cuts to their ankles, fingers and hands.
Paramedics gave first aid and police closed the beach after having to force some people out of the water who had continued swimming despite the danger.
The aggressive attack was blamed on a cousin of the piranha, called palometa. In 2008, 40 swimmers were bitten.
It is believed that the debris left by local fishermen attracted the shoal.
