River In China Mysteriously Turns Bloody Red Overnight

Local environmental bureau is investigating the bizarre situation.

ByABC News
July 25, 2014, 1:09 PM
The water in a river in Xinmeizhou village in eastern China's Zhejiang province turned red overnight, baffling locals, July 25, 2014.
The water in a river in Xinmeizhou village in eastern China's Zhejiang province turned red overnight, baffling locals, July 25, 2014.
Newscom

— -- A waterway in eastern China has mysteriously turned a blood red color.

Residents in Zhejiang province said the river looked normal at 5 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday morning. Within an hour, the entire river turned crimson. Residents also said a strange smell wafted through the air.

“The really weird thing is that we have been able to catch fish because the water is normally so clear,” one local villager commented on China’s microblogging site Weibo.

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Inspectors from the Wenzhou Environmental Protection Bureau said they have not found the cause of the incident, although water samples seem to indicate the suspicious color was a result of illegal dumping in the river.

The river in Xinmeizhou village in eastern China's Zhejiang province quickly filled up with the red colored liquid which had a strange smell, according to villagers, July 25, 2014.

“We suspect that somebody dumped artificial coloring in the water because he thought the typhoon yesterday would cause heavy rain, and nobody would notice [the color],” Jianfeng Xiao, Chief of the bureau told China News.

“It turned out there wasn’t heavy rainfall yesterday, so the evidence is left behind,” Xiao said.

Xiao said there is a paper manufacturer, a food coloring company and clothing-maker a long the river. The bureau is still investigating the incident.