Thousands of dead fish suspected of being freed by local residents floated to the surface of the Tonghui River in Beijing due to the river's high temperature.
Thousands of dead fish suspected of being freed by local residents floated to the surface of the Tonghui River in Beijing due to the river's high temperature, the Legal Evening News reported on Thursday.
Authorities began removing them after the fish floated toward downtown. Most are 10-centimeter long crucian, the report said. A foul smell of dead fish and garbage permeated the area near the river.
"The fish may well have been freed, as they are all of one type and almost the same size," said a staff member surnamed Zhang in the Tonghui branch of the city's urban river and lake management office. "The temperature of the Tonghui River may have hit over 40 degrees Celsius since a thermo-electrical plant discharge circulated water into the river and the recent hot weather."
"The fish were likely to be scalded to death," Zhang said.
There was no indication of why people may have let thousands of fish go free in the river.
Large catfish were also spotted in the section between Gaobeidian and Shuangqiao in the Tonghui River on July 1.
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