Hundreds of fish have been contaminated after a truck carrying 31 tonnes of zinc fell into a major river in the Peruvian capital, officials have said.

The truck fell into the Chillón River in the the Huaros district on Tuesday, affecting nearby fishing farms.

The Civil Defence’s initial report said there was a loss of “about 500 tonnes of trout”, which are reared in the Chillón, one of three rivers that cross Lima.

Miguel Pastrana, a trout farm manager, said the zinc spill darkened the waters, which resulted in many fish dying.

Administrators of other fish farms said they were waiting for a report from the National Fishing Health Agency to carry out an assessment and indicate the state in which the fish were found.

The water distribution company in Lima said in a statement that the leak did not affect the distribution in the northern part of the capital.

Between May and November, the company uses about 28 underground water wells because the flow of the Chillón River is low at this time.

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Trout have been farmed in Peru for nearly a century.

According to official figures, 50,000 tonnes of trout were produced in 2019.

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