Mass fish die-off in Vietnam as heatwave roasts South-east Asia

DONG NAI, Vietnam Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in a reservoir in southern Vietnam's Dong Nai province, with locals and media reports suggesting a brutal heatwave and the lake's management are to blame.

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Like much of South-east Asia where schools have recently been forced to close early and electricity usage has surged - southern and central Vietnam have been scorched by devastating heat.

"All the fish in the Song May reservoir died due to a lack of water," said a local resident in Trang Bom district, who identified himself only as Nghia.

"Our lives have been turned upside down over the past 10 days because of the smell." Pictures show residents wading and boating through the 300ha Song May reservoir, with the water barely visible under a blanket of dead marine life.

According to media reports, the area has seen no rain for weeks and the water in the reservoir is too low for the creatures to survive.

Reservoir management had previously discharged water to try to save crops downstream, Nghia said.