London, Mar. 21 (ANI): The number of dead pigs found floating in Chinese rivers around Shanghai has risen to almost 14,000, according to officials.
The cause of the deaths is yet to be found out.
Last week, officials retrieved nearly 6,000 dead pigs from the Huangpu River network.
Residents have condemned the local government's failure to account for the carcasses, which some believe have been dumped by farmers upstream, reports the BBC.
Workers have been pulling dead pigs from rivers that supply Shanghai with drinking water for the past 11 days, sparking alarm on internet chat sites.
Authorities, however, have insisted that water from the river was safe.
The scandal has also highlighted China's difficulties with food safety as pork is one of the country's most popular meats.
Farmers in the Jiaxing area of Zhejiang province, upstream from Shanghai, have denied dumping the pigs in rivers.
Laboratory tests have identified that some of the pigs had porcine circovirus, a common disease that affects pigs but not humans.
Jiaxing officials have said that the pigs may have fallen victim to the cold weather. (ANI)
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