Twenty metric tons of frozen sea fish have been destroyed by authorities in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue after they were found containing toxins from an environmental crisis in April.

The fish were found in the cold storage of a local fishmonger in Thuan An Town, Phu Vang District, according to Le Ba Phuc, deputy director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Samples of the frozen fish were taken for lab tests by the provincial health department, which found them to contain toxins from the environmental crisis that hit the country’s central provinces in April, killing fish en masse along their coastline.

Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group took responsibility for the manmade disaster, which it said had stemmed from a malfunction at its steel plant in central Ha Tinh Province, and pledged VND11.5 trillion (US$500 million) in damages for the affected provinces.

The toxic fish were later destroyed at a local landfill site, Phuc said, adding that the fish had been discovered during a regular food safety inspection.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!