Levira, Portugal flood with 2.2M liters of red wine distillery burst.
Red wine, nearly enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, was seen pouring down the streets of Levira in Anadia, central Portugal, in pictures and videos that were posted online.
In a message on its Facebook page, Destilaria Levira expressed its “deep regret” for the tragedy that happened this morning. “We want to sincerely express our concern for the overall harm caused.”
It said that the causes of the break were being looked into and that cleanup was entirely its responsibility.
According to local media, the wine spilled down surrounding roads, drowning some nearby land and at least one cellar. Firefighters from the neighborhood assisted with cleanup, and the liquid that could be collected was transported to a wastewater treatment facility.
The streets of Levira, Portugal were flooded with red wine after a distillery’s 2.2 million liter tanks burst.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 11, 2023
An environmental catastrophe was avoided by stopping the wine from spilling into a river, a local council member told the Jornal de Noticias.
Because it was “good quality wine,” the spill did not leave a significant odor behind and lasted for roughly one hour, according to Pedro Carvalho, chief executive of the distillery.
According to him, a “structural failure” caused one tank to collapse, and the power of that wine avalanche knocked the second tank over.
The distillery said that the vats had been used to store extra wine; due to a decline in demand, Portugal and other nations that produce wine, including France, have an excess supply.
