“The river looked like it turned to blood.”

Residents of the Zhejiang province made similar statements to reporters all morning after the river running through their villages turned blood red.

“The really weird thing is that we have been able to catch fish because the water is normally so clear,” one resident said.

The river reportedly was fine around 5 a.m. according to fisherman but within an hour had turned blood red and created a foul smell.  Fish within the river are reportedly dying and washing up on riverbanks.

Government inspectors say the cause has to be illegal dumping in the river.

“We suspect that somebody dumped artificial coloring in the water because he thought the typhoon yesterday would cause heavy rain, and nobody would notice [the color],” Jianfeng Xiao, Chief of the Wenzhour Environmental Protection Bureau told China News.