TIRANA, July 27 – A torrent of sewage water descended on Ksamil Beach in the southern Albanian Riviera Wednesday, startling tourists crowding the beach at the peak of the tourist season, amateur video published online showed.
The dirty water descended from an uphill roadway into the sandy beach and then into the blue water of the sea, which turned brownish red, the footage showed.
A broken sewage pipe uphill was to blame, authorities said.
Alket Hyseni, a newly-elected Socialist lawmaker representing the area, said those responsible for the environmental mishap should face criminal charges for ruining the area’s reputation at the height of the tourist season.
“I’d like to assure everyone that has been damaged by this situation that I will be at the forefront of getting them compensated. I feel a lot of remorse and ask for the forgiveness of every tourist that had to go through this situation at the peak of the tourist season in one of the most beautiful beaches of our Riviera,” Hyseni said in a statement of Facebook.
Albanian soldiers and seamen joined forces with local firefighters and officials to help remedy the situation which had returned to normal the next day.
Local media said the low quality of infrastructure was to blame as well as recent work to improve sewage lines. Ksamil’s water and sewage grid were recently the focus of an EU-funded project which was supposed to finish last year, but not all work has been completed yet, local media reported.
