River of red wine flows through village in Portugal after tanks burst

  • 12/09/2023

Millions of litres of red wine flooded down the streets of a Portuguese village after the tanks they were held in burst. 

The two huge wine tanks burst at a distillery in the small town of São Lourenco do Bairro, in the centre of the country, causing the wine to pour down streets.

Locals watched on in shock as the estimated 2.2 million litres -  enough to fill an Olympic-sized pool - cascaded through the village on Sunday.

A video shared on Twitter shows the fast-moving red liquid gushing down a steep slope and around a bend in the road.

There were fears from residents the wine could contaminate the nearby Certima river, however, local authorities said they managed to prevent that.

The distilling company, Levra, apologised for the damage and said it took full responsibility.

"The causes of this incident are being investigated by the competent authorities," the company said.

"We are fully committed to covering the costs associated with cleaning up and repairing the damage, with teams ready to act immediately."

According to Portuguese media, the basement of one house was flooded with wine.