Watch: 2.2m litres of red wine flows down Portuguese streets

Enough red wine to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool rushed through the streets of a village in Portugal. Pictures: @nuno_mar/Twitter

Residents of a small village in Portugal were left shocked when a river of red wine came gushing down the streets.

Over 2.2m litres of wine flowed through the town of São Lorenco de Bairro following an incident at a local distillery.

Levira Distillery said the incident occurred when two wine storage units burst causing the alcohol to spill out onto the street.

The local council and the Anadia firefighters were called in to deal with minimising the damage caused and worked to divert the course of the wine away from the nearby Certima River.

The Nature and Environment Protection Service in Portugal assisted with the aftermath and issued a warning due to the potential environmental damage.

 

In a statement, Levira Distillery said that no injuries arose from the incident and pledged to take full responsibility for damage caused.

"We take full responsibility for the costs associated with damage clean-up and repair with crews available to do it immediately," it said.

Locals were asked to take photos of any damage and to contact the distillery directly to co-ordinate repair works.

Levira said that an investigation into the incident is underway by the relevant authorities.

The company thanked all of those who offered support and helped to minimise the damage.

"We wanted to express our deep gratitude to everyone, without exception, who helped us in these most difficult hours and who we know will be with us in the future," the statement said.

A number of videos appeared on social media following the incident on Sunday showing the red wine rushing down the winding streets of the picturesque village.

The amount of wine lost was enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.