Manila: Hundreds of residents in a town in Southern Philippines' Agusan del Sur were bewildered as fish fell from the sky during a heavy downpour, a report reaching the capital said.
The Bombo Radyo network said dozens of fish of a still undetermined species fell from the sky during a heavy downpour Friday morning in Poblacion village in the town of Loreto.
The fish were about the size of a cigarette stick, slightly pink in colour, and still alive when they reached the ground.
According to the report, several residents, especially children, gathered the tiny fishes and placed them in makeshift aquariums.
Unprecedented
According to the report, the residents claimed that it was the first time that such an incident had been observed in Loreto, an inland area where the closest shore is located some 60 kilometres away.
Engineer Lolit Binalay, chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service (PAGASA) explained that such an incident could take place if there is an active formation of a Cumulo-Nimbus cloud. She said the weather system could have formed a "waterspout" that sucked the water — as well as creatures and objects — from the sea and dumped them back to earth in the form of rain.
Binalay said a similar incident had taken place in Lake Mainit in Agusan del Norte last year.
Similar events have been documented in other parts of the world where fishes, tiny frogs, and even livestock have reportedly fallen from the sky during storms.
