Hundreds of dead birds wash up on Chilean beach

An estimated 200 dead seabirds have been found washed up on a Chilean beach, with bird flu thought to be the cause of death.

Some of the birds found dead on Changa Beach (Rueters Videos).

The bodies washed up on Changa Beach in northern Chile's Coquimbo province. Local authorities have sent samples of the birds to a laboratory in Santiago to determine whether they died from a bird flu outbreak, which at this point is thought to be the most likely cause of death.

Authorities have warned locals not to collect the dead birds so as to avoid possible infection of bird flu.

Chile's first case of bird flu was reported last autumn, when two Brown Pelicans died. Since then, the virus has ripped through various South American countries, killing birds in Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.