Brazil: Experts warn tourists over oil spill in sea

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Brazil's experts recommended tourists not to go into the sea over a mystery oil spill that country is suffering since September in its northeastern beaches.

"It is flammable, volatile and, above all, potentially a highly carcinogenic material," a scientist from the Rural Federal University of Pernambuc told Argentinian news site Infobae on Sunday.

Toxic material has settled in the bottom of estuaries, in layers that can reach 40 centimeters (1.3 feet), and it will gradually release poisonous substances, according to the experts.

It already has a deadly effect on sea creatures, and the actual consequences of the oil spill "will not be in less than 10 years," they added.

But the Brazilian government led by President Jair Bolsonaro thinks there is no serious issue.

"They are good for swimming," Vice President Hamilton Moura said, adding: "The oil was already collected and I think there is no polluted beach in the northeast".

Oil spill has also spoiled the famous beaches of Cabo de Santo Agostinho on the southern coast of Bahia state on Saturday.

Since the disaster began around two months ago, more than 1,400 tons of crude oil were cleared in Bahia.

The source of oil spill remains a mystery and officials couldn't make an explanation if the amount of oil is rising or dropping or how long the spill will last.

Instead of governmental efforts, the locals voluntarily worked on removing the spilled oil from beaches.

A photograph of a Brazilian boy, posted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Oct. 21, depicts him walking out of the sea, carrying wastes of spilled oil on Itapuama Beach in the city of Cabo de Santo Agostinho gone viral last week.