TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Residents in Kaohsiung on Friday (Dec. 14) morning noticed a large number of dead fish floating in Xingfu River, a tributary of the Love River, and notified the authorities.
According to the city government, the Water Resources Bureau was responsible for the fish kill. This was due to inspections and repairs on the city's irrigation and filtration systems.
During the maintenance operation, which took place on Thursday (Dec. 15), workers used a temporary dam to block a portion of the river. LTN reported that they released sewage into the river, which critically reduced oxygen levels in the water.
The result was hundreds of dead fish floating in the river Friday morning along the Xingfu River between Minzu Road and Hedong Road, where the waterway meets the Love River.
The Water Resources Bureau said the measures were necessary to improve the water quality of the river and the bureau did not intentionally kill the fish.
Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau dispatched extra workers on Friday to dispose of the dead fish. They said the clean-up will be completed in a single day, and that oxygen levels in the Xingfu River should return to normal over the next 24 hours.
Dead fish float on the Xingfu River in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. (CNA photo)