The French military has owned up to spilling a chemical which turned a river in French Polynesia fluorescent green.
(TAHITI INFOS) Comment une rivière de #Arue est devenue vert fluo : ARUE, le 5 janvier.. https://t.co/eK2HPmlY58 pic.twitter.com/K05Z51x6gK
— Titrespresse.com (@titrespresse) January 6, 2018
The river emptied its bright green water into Tahiti's lagoon last week, triggering online speculation about the phenomenon.
The military has now issued a statement, saying its demining unit in Arue was cleaning a container of marking colour when some of its content got into the river.
It said the substance, which is not toxic for flora and fauna, dissolves quickly.
The military said it had used two aircraft to check the Arue area and found no trace left of the green colour.
Because of poor weather, swimming in the sea had been banned.
