According to the District Command of Relief Operations (CDOS) of Aveiro: “The cause is unknown, but the children had an allergic skin reaction after they went into the water and the Espinho Municipality Volunteer Firefighters [BVCE] were called to the site to provide them with medical assistance,” says a CDOS source.

The waters in question do not show any perceptible sign of an anomaly, but the stretch of coast between Praia da Baía and Rua 37, in Espinho, has meanwhile been prohibited for bathing, although it is possible to remain on the beach itself.

Pedro Louro, commander of the BVCE, said that this Tuesday “an identical situation was found in an adult”, despite the fact that, on the same day, the weekly analyzes carried out by the municipal authorities to the bathing waters of Espinho showed “normal results”.

“Last week there was a similar case in Gaia, yesterday [Tuesday] there was this adult here in Espinho and today there were these eight children, all aged between 7 and 10 and belonging to the same group”, he added.

The symptoms identified in all these bathers, according to the commander, were always “itching”.

The children identified today with the same allergic reaction were taken to the Hospital of Vila Nova de Gaia and, according to the Municipality of Espinho, the intervention of the Portuguese Environment Agency has already been requested, which will carry out laboratory tests on the waters of these beaches to identify the problem.