Huangpu River in Shanghai (Source - Wikipedia/Jakub Hałun)
Huangpu river in Shanghai Image Source: Wikipedia/Jakub Hałun Wikipedia/Jakub Hałun

Over 900 pigs have been found dead and floating in Shanghai's Huangpu River - an important source of drinking water for millions of people in China's most populous city.

According to the Bangkok Post, the Songjiang district government began retrieving the pigs' bodies on Friday night, as per a statement posted on the Shanghai Agriculture Committee's Web site.

The bodies were retrieved from the section upstream of the Huangpu River, according to the city's Water Supplies Bureau.

The Xinhua news agency states more bodies are being recovered and authorities are working to contain water contamination fears. It is still unclear where the dead pigs came from, but the Bureau has assured citizens the water quality has not been affected.

Local environment protection officials and water safety officers have tightened protocols for the examination of water quality and the disinfection process. The bodies of the recovered pigs have also been subject to testing, to understand how they got into the water source.

There are no reports of animal epidemic outbreaks in the city so far, the Business Standard reports.

The Huangpu River is 113km long and flows directly through the city of Shanghai. It is the largest river in the city, which has a population of 23 million.

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