What killed tons of fish in European river? Germany urged Poland to clarify the circumstances

 

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 The helpers with rubber boots and gloves are on duty over a distance of around 80 kilometers to collect dead fish. It is still unclear what caused the massive fish kill.

1. Laboratory tests following a mass die-off of fish in the Oder River detected high levels of salinity but no mercury poisoning its waters, Poland's environment minister said Saturday as the mystery continued as to what killed tons of fish in Central Europe.

Anna Moskwa, the minister of climate and environment, said analyses of river samples taken in both Poland and Germany revealed elevated salt levels. Comprehensive toxicology studies are still underway in Poland, she said.

She said Poland's state veterinary authority tested seven species of the dead fish and ruled out mercury as the cause of the die-off but was still waiting for results of other substances. She said test results from Germany had also not shown a high presence of mercury.

The Oder River runs from Czechia to the border between Poland and Germany before flowing into the Baltic Sea. Some German media had suggested that the river have been be poisoned with mercury.
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2. The German government has urged Poland to clarify the circumstances that have led to a mysterious mass die-off of fish along the Oder River that runs between the two countries.

The effects of what is being called an “ecological disaster” have already reached the mouth of the Baltic Sea, where thousands of dead fish have been found.

"We agree: the priority now is damage limitation, protecting the population and identifying the cause and the potential perpetrator,” Germany’s environment minister Steffi Lemke said on a visit to Frankfurt on the Oder on the Polish border on Saturday, a day after she had met with her Polish counterpart to discuss the issue.

“This environmental crime must be solved,” she added.