After it was reported that 16,000 dead pigs were floating in Shanghai rivers, around 1,000 dead ducks were found floating in the Nanhe river in southwestern Sichuan Province.
The Communist Party-operated Xinhua news agency said that more than 1,000 duck carcasses were removed from the Pengshan section of the Nanhe river as of Monday morning.
Officials told the news agency that the dead birds were carried in 50 plastic woven bags and were buried 10 feet underground in a “designated area.”
Local authorities said they have not determined the cause of death of the birds, adding that an investigation is ongoing. They also said that the Nanhe river is not a source of drinking water.
Earlier this week, Shanghai authorities said that 98 dead pigs were removed from the Huangpu river, which supplies around 22 percent of the city’s drinking water, and 93 were removed on Sunday, according to AFP.
“The city’s water territory has already basically finished the work of fishing out the floating dead pigs,” a statement from Shanghai officials said late on Sunday, according to the news agency.
The dead pigs scandal has embarrassed authorities in Shanghai, the economic capital of China, and also underscores the country’s problems with food safety and environmental protection.
Hog farmers have told state media that the dumping of carcasses is rising because police have started cracking down on the illicit sale of pork products made from dead, diseased pigs.
The state-controlled Southern Weekly newspaper, citing court documents, said three men were sentenced to life in prison in Jiaxing last November for procuring dead pigs to sell their meat. It says the men and their group bought 77,000 dead pigs in a period of more than two years.
Local officials also told Southern Weekly that the city lacked the facilities to dispose properly of dead pigs. Hog farming is a major business in Jiaxing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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