Thousands of fish were found washed ashore, shocking beachgoers in Indonesia.

The small mackerels lined Leok Beach and were being pushed by the current as tourists and locals visited the area in Central Sulawesi.

Footage shows the silver creatures lying dead on the sand on January 18. Some visitors checked to see if some of them were still good.

Residents feared poisoning, but local officials said the stranding was caused by large fishing nets set up nearby.

Local environmental agency chief Syarif Badalu said: 'We need to emphasise that this incident was not due to chemicals, nor potassium. It was purely the result of fishing activities using nets.'

Chief Syarif said a large school of mackerel was caught in the net, but the traps could not hold their volume.

He said: 'The number of fish caught was very large and exceeded the storage capacity. The fishermen did not intentionally release the fish, but during the loading process, the net bag tore because the load was too heavy. Even some of their fishing equipment was damaged.'

The beach was later cleared in a cleanup operation.