| Updated: 1d ago
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Bodies of swans have been found "piling up" at a popular London hotspot, raising fears of a bird flu outbreak.
Some 24 dead birds were reported at West India and Millwall Docks near Canary Wharf on Saturday and Sunday, which followed initial reports during the week.
The Canal and River Trust (CRT), which is responsible for historic waterways in England and Wales, has reported the deaths to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
A local rescue volunteer said the total number of swan deaths could be higher than 30 due to a "serious outbreak of bird flu," and suggested the worst-affected areas were on the Isle of Dogs, south of Canary Wharf.
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Remaining anonymous, he said: "We have literally got bodies piling up.
"There’s an artificial island which was being used by the swans. It started off as two died there. By the time we came to bag the bodies up, there were five there. We’re just getting a constant stream of birds that are dying or dead.
"I’ve not had much experience with bird flu. There was an outbreak a few years ago but that wasn’t anything like as infectious or virulent."
The CRT advised members of the public to report dead birds but not to try to retrieve them from the water. The cause of the deaths has not been confirmed.
Swan numbers were reported to be higher last year following a gradual decline since 2022 due to avian flu and human cruelty.
A spokesman for the CRT said: "We’ve been aware of the carcasses since the weekend.
"For the carcasses we’ve been dealing with, we’ve had to bring in our specialist contractors to remove them from the water.
"We currently don’t know the actual cause, so essentially the authorities are going to be doing tests as to why so many have died.
"The advice right now is if anyone else sees other carcasses or dead swans, we’re telling people to report and do not recover them themselves."
LBC has contacted DEFRA for comment.
