Piranha attack -- dozens of swimmers suddenly rushed out of water at the Parana River beach, screaming for help after piranhas started attacking them. The piranhas injured and bloodied up majority of the swimmers early on Christmas Day.

Witnesses to the attack had called paramedics to the beach and upon arriving at the site, paramedics immediately assessed and performed first aid to treat the worst of the injuries caused by the piranha attack. Argentina officials confirmed that the number of injured citizens reached at least 60, a third of which are children. 

While majority of the injuries caused by the freak piranha attack, some of the bite wounds had reached into muscle tissue. Two of the children had also received severe hand and finger injuries.

According to the Independent, the piranha attack was unexpected and unsual. Although piranhas are known to be easily provoked and aggressive, a large-scale piranha attack on a lot of people is rare. 

Federico Cornier, Rosario's director of emergency services, said that this attack was not normal and the magnitude of this incident is an "exceptional event." The director added that it's normal around their beaches for stray piranhas to cause isolated bites or injuries but the large-scale nature of this piranha attack was unheard of.

Officials noticed unused bait scattered all around Parana River beach that local fishermen had left and concluded that the bait, along with the intense temperature that day, may have prompted the " very aggressive piranha behavior.

There are two different freshwater piranha species inhabiting Parana River including Pygocentrus nattereri and Serrasalmus spilopleura.
While piranhas may have developed a notorious reputation as vicious, violent killers through movies and media, their real nature is a lot less exciting as actual piranha attacks on human beings are rarer than most believe.

Piranha are known to travel by themselves, according to Animal Planet, feeding only on seeds, small fish and fruit. They tend to shy away from large mammals and rarely ever attack humans because of this.