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MORE than 10,000 birds died mysteriously in eastern China's Jiangsu province, dropping like rain from the sky, state media reported yesterday.
Farmers and other witnesses in Sangongdian village in Taizhou city saw flocks of bramble finch suddenly fall from the sky on Tuesday, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
Most of the birds were dead when they hit the ground and some were injured, it said. The birds look like sparrows and are small in size.
Officials from the local centre for disease prevention and control rushed to the scene. Samples from the birds were taken to a lab in nearby Nanjing city for testing to determine the cause of death.
Experts from the Jiangsu province agriculture department said that because the birds died while in flight, the cause of death may have been contamination in their food, water or environment.
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