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ocal environmental agencies are investigating the cause of death of thousands of fauna in the Pangkajene River in Pangkajene and Ke-pulauan (Pangkep) regency, South Sulawesi, over the weekend.

Five research teams took samples of water and fauna at the river on Monday and Tuesday that will be taken into labs for tests to determine what caused the deaths.

'€œAccording to preliminary findings, pollution was the cause of death of the river'€™s fauna,'€ Sabrun Jamil, the head of the Fish Farming division at the regency'€™s Marine and Fishery Agency, said on Tuesday.

He said that early findings confirmed that the deaths were not triggered by disease or an overabundance of plankton.

The river, he said, was thought to be contaminated by pesticides, heavy metals and non-organic substances from household waste.

On Saturday, residents were shocked to find the remains of thousands of fish, shrimp and crabs in the river, which many fishermen and locals relied on to develop fish and shrimp farms in the area. The local administration has asked locals to stop using the river water until the investigation is complete.

Meanwhile, Andi Hasbi Nur, the head of the South Sulawesi Environment Management Agency (BLHD), said that a test carried out at the river showed that the river had low dissolved oxygen levels, which could have killed the fish.

'€œThe field test showed that the oxygen content in the river was only 3.7 milligram per liter, while normally, the minimum content should be 10 mm per liter,'€ he said.

He said that the low oxygen levels might have been caused by thick sedimentation in the river.

'€œThe sedimentation in the river was pretty high and the water was murky when the incident happened. The muddy river might have resulted in oxygen levels to drop,'€ he said.

He said the agency would also send samples of the water and the dead fish to the Environment and Forestry Ministry in Jakarta for further tests.