Girl, 6, dies after piranhas eat her legs when canoe capsizes on family holiday

The girl was on the boat with her grandmother and four other children

Lamiat Sabin
Wednesday 04 February 2015 09:28 GMT
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A shoal of red bellied piranha fish found in South America
A shoal of red bellied piranha fish found in South America

A six-year-old girl has died after piranhas ate all the flesh from her legs when her grandparents’ canoe capsized during a thunderstorm in Brazil.

The girl, named Adrila Muniz as reported by Brazilian news channel Globo, was with four other children and her grandmother in the boat during a family holiday.

Adverse weather caused it to turn over and the children were plunged into the water in Monte Alegre, Brazilian newspaper Ariquemes Agora reports.

The others were saved by the grandmother, however the girl was not reached in time and a pool of blood and a shoal of piranha fish were spotted around her.

The grandfather and mother of the girl were also on board the canoe, according to Newsrondonia.

The girl is pictured in extremely graphic images in various Brazilian news reports with completely exposed bones from below her hips after the attack by the fish with razor-sharp teeth.

The girl had to be pulled from the water and dragged into the canoe before being taken to hospital on 27 January.

Local media report that the girl died at the scene.

Carnivorous breeds of piranhas have a reputation as ferocious predators and are more commonly found in bodies of water in and around the Amazon rainforest.

A five-year-old girl from Brazil, named Aline Nery de Araújo, died in 2012 after being attacked by the fish.

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