“The smell is terrible – [and] “We had to put up with this foam for a long time,” Luz community leader Mariela Gómez told local television. “We are in danger. “Someone may fall down there and we will not be able to find him.” Photographs from the Mosquera residential suburb showed huge drifts of spicy foam burying sidewalks and rising above residents. A road to a school was blocked. Local environmental authorities say the contaminated foam – which has appeared in the city several times in recent years – is on the rise due to people dumping waste, chemicals and detergents into the river system. Heavy rainfall was added to the problem. The foam has been seen several times in recent years. Photo: Luisa González / Reuters Mayor Mosquera’s office posted photos of the toxic foam on Twitter, along with city officials. The mayor, Gian Gerometta, claimed that the accumulation of pollution was partly due to a blockage caused by plants in the river. “We are aware of the dangers that may arise due to this phenomenon,” he wrote on Twitter. Authorities also warned locals not to get too close to the foam, which is believed to cause respiratory problems and skin irritations. “It’s important that children are kept away as we do not yet know what this material is,” Edwin García, a government environmental official, told local radio station Caracol, adding that a treatment plant in the area was working to disinfect the river. 2020. “We will monitor and clean the entire river to prevent the foam from continuing to accumulate.”
