Thousands of dead fish washed up on the shore of a lake in China, causing a massive headache for the southern port city of Haikou.
Massive dead fish found in lake in S. #China’s #Hainan Wed for uncertain reason; workers clear over 20 tons in 5 hrs pic.twitter.com/PKTScmoysr
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) May 4, 2016
The fish began washing up on shore on Wednesday. By Saturday, more than 35 tons of rotting carcasses had come ashore.
35 tons of dead fish wash up in China lake https://t.co/EtL7dwySID pic.twitter.com/DPuIadVwm3
— 11Alive News (@11AliveNews) May 7, 2016
According to local news reports, a massive tidal surge likely pushed the fish up an estuary and into a pumping system that deposited them into the lake. Officials believe the salt water fish died when entering the fresh water lake.
35 Tons Of Dead Fish Appear In Lake In China https://t.co/5eOjbN7bDm pic.twitter.com/a94XstRnjW
— trendsilk.com (@trendsilk) May 7, 2016
It took more than 100 sanitation workers two days to clear the shoreline of the fish. The workers ultimately incinerated the carcasses to prevent them from being sold at local markets.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
