No threat from dead duck dumping: official

CHENGDU - A local official said Monday that rotten 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.

More than 1,000 ducks had been fished out of the Pengshan section of the Nanhe River as of Monday morning, said 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, according to Liang.

The dead birds have been handled safely, posing no threat to local residents and livestock, the official added.

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 earlier this month of thousands of dead pigs floating in the Huangpu River in Shanghai, an incident that has sparked great panic as well as satire among the public.

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.