The Medellin River, a heavily polluted waterway with concrete banks, turned a handsome shade of blue Saturday.
Despite the aesthetic improvement, officials suspect environmental crime.
Normally the shade of a cafe con leche with extra milk, Rio Medellin runs the length of the city before joining others which eventually feed into the Caribbean.
Medellin’s Director of the Metropolitan Area, Carlos Mario Montoya, was clearly not pleased with the development. “We cannot allow this to keep happening,” he tweeted Saturday adding that officials are investigating the cause of the color change.
La Unidad de Emergencias ambientales se encuentra investigando nueva coloración del Río Medellín. No podemos permitir qué siga ocurriendo
— Carlos Mario Montoya (@CarlosMarioMont) February 23, 2013
This is not the river’s first change of color. According to local tabloid Q’hubo, the river turned red on October 6, 2009. It was thought at the time that the coloration may have been an overambitious Christmas decoration. Medellin is famous for its exuberant, citywide holiday ornamentation.
MORE: Medellin ablaze with lights for Christmas
The Medellin River has also been the sight of some grizzly discoveries. In 2010, authorities pulled 48 bodies from the water.
MORE: Medellin River bears bodies of the dead
Sources
- El Rio Medellin fue azul por un dia (printed copy of Q’hubo)
- El rio Medellin se Tiño de azul (El Colombiano)