Blood and embalming fluid seeps onto street outside Baton Rouge funeral home

Officials say blood did not enter city sewer system

The mix of blood and formaldehyde seeped onto the street for about 20 minutes (WBRZ)

Blood and embalming fluid leaked from a storage tank onto the street outside a funeral home before it was spotted by passersby.

Images showed the mix of blood and formaldehyde as it seeped onto the street behind the Greenoaks Funeral Home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

A blockage in the storage tank had caused the leak, which lasted around 20 minutes.

City officials told WBRZ the blood did not make its way into the sewer and was a private property issue.

“We sent out both our sewer inspector and our environmental specialists to take a look,” Adam Smith, an official with the City of Baton Rouge Department of Environmental Services, said.

“We determined that it wasn’t a sewer issue and that it was an issue on private property.”

He said the funeral home, which recently came under new management, did not have a permit with the department.

An employee at the funeral home was filmed washing away the blood before the Department of Environmental Services arrived.

In a statement to local media, the funeral home acknowledged there was a "malfunction" in some of its equipment.

It did not confirm if the leaking liquid contained blood.

"As soon as we noticed it, we were able to immediately stop the leak, clean and disinfect the area," the statement said.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused visitors to our cemetery."