YICHANG - A suspect poisoned a large number of fish in two supermarkets on Saturday in Yichang city, Central China's Hubei province, according to the city's publicity department on Sunday.

The two separate incidents occurred at 2:02 pm and 3:15 pm. Upon realizing that the fish had died suddenly, staff at the two supermarkets cordoned off the fresh fish sections and called the police.

Surveillance videos show that no fish were sold after the poisoning incident, and the poisoned fish and tainted water have been sent to a lab for testing.

No single poisoned fish was sold due to the prompt discovery of the incident, said a local government official.

A preliminary investigation found that the same suspect was involved in both incidents.

A police search for the suspect is under way.