Police are investigating a case in which dozens of tons of pig feet were found washed up on a beach in South China's Guangdong Province on Saturday. The incident has sparked safety concerns among Chinese netizens amid the coronavirus outbreak and African swine fever.

Authorities in Humen, South China's Guangdong Province said they are cleaning up the beach and investigating the origin of the pig feet.

This comes after some netizens reported that piles of stinky pig feet were found on the beach outside the Humen Naval War Museum in Dongguan.

Some scattered pig feet were first spotted at 11 pm on Friday but more, along with some unknown animal parts, were found along the one-kilometer-long beach on Saturday.

A clearing team was called and has cleaned up a total of 20 tons of pig feet and unknown animal organs, which will be subjected to further investigation and special treatment for epidemic prevention.

The clean-up is still underway to prevent deterioration due to high temperatures, as more pig feet have appeared on nearby coastlines.

A staff member with Humen county stated that the origin of the pig feet and how they ended up in the water is still under investigation.

Internet users were concerned about food safety and environmental impact, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and African swine fever.

"I don't dare to eat pig feet recently," commented a Sina Weibo user known as tangbaozitang.

There is a high possibility that the pig feet are related to smuggling, experts warned.

"From the first quarter of 2019, China's pork prices have continued to rise, and the price difference between domestic and foreign markets creates the possibility of smuggling," Zhu Danpeng, an expert in the food industry told Global Times on Sunday.