After pigs, China grapples to remove 1,000 dead ducks

Beijing: Days after removing thousands of carcasses of dead pigs which clogged a river in Shanghai, Chinese authorities were feverishly trying to remove over 1,000 rotten ducks in southwest China.

The carcasses of ducks, found floating in a river in Pengshan County of southwest China`s Sichuan Province, have been disposed of safely and will pose no threat to human and livestock along the river banks, a local official said. More than 1,000 ducks had been fished out of the Pengshan section of the Nanhe River as of this morning, Liang Weidong, an official with the county`s publicity office. Tucked in some 50 plastic woven bags, the corpses were disinfected and buried three meters underground in a designated area, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Liang as saying. The dead birds have been handled safely, posing no threat to local residents and livestock, the official said. Local authorities have not identified the cause of their death, and further investigation is under way to identify any farm responsible for the dumping. The incident comes after the discovery of over 16,000 dead pigs earlier this month floating in the Huangpu River in Shanghai, an incident that has sparked great panic as it was main source of water to the city. The Nanhe River, along the middle reaches of the Minjiang River in Sichuan, is not a source of drinking water, according to the local authorities. PTI