In the picture a distressed family take out dead fish from their pond in Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province June 4, 2006.

The fish were first found floating on Friday afternoon, possibly due to pollution from a nearby factory, according to Yin, the owner of the fishpond.

Fish, shrimps, crabs and tortoises weighing 50,000 kilograms were dead by yesterday, causing a loss of 300,000 yuan (US$37,500), Yin said. The local environment authorities are investigating the case.

(China Daily June 5, 2006)