This footage shows thousands of dead fish floating at the top of a fish pond in China, with some claiming a “jealous” saboteur had poisoned them to get revenge on a fish farmer.

According to reports, 500,000 to 600,000 fish mysteriously floated to the top of the fish pond in Leshan, Sichuan Province, south-western China, over a period of just two hours on 15th June.

The fish were soon to be sold and the mass deaths stumped the fish farmers in charge of the pond.

Fish farmer Ms Wu said the deaths cost her and her family CNY 500,000 (GBP 61,500) in earnings.

Staff from the Ministry of Agriculture arrived on the scene and conducted tests following the incident.

They said the mass deaths were caused by sodium sulphide poisoning.

It is not known how the pond came to be poisoned, but one netizen suggested someone “jealous” put “pesticide” in the fish pond.

Others blamed extreme weather or lack of oxygen.

Sodium sulphide is strongly alkaline and can cause chemical burns.

At the time of reporting, how the fish came to be poisoned remained a mystery.