Heat combined with human factor killed at least 1,200 fish in a pond in western Moscow as current temperatures beat a 70-year record, local prosecutors said on Monday.
For the past five weeks temperatures across much of western Russia have topped 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), sparking peat bog fires and creating what is thought to be the worst drought since 1972.
As many as 1,200 fish died of a "heat shock" after an undetermined amount of hot water was dumped into the already overheated pond in Moscow's Solntsevo District, police said.
The loss is estimated at 124,000 rubles (about $4,100). A criminal case has been opened into the incident.
Temperatures on Monday reached 33.8 degrees Celsius (92.8 degrees Fahrenheit) after midday, breaking the 1936 record for July 26 by 0.3 degrees.
MOSCOW, July 26 (RIA Novosti)
