HANOI – Vietnamese police have detained scores of people in the country’s capital of Hanoi, as they broke up a demonstration against a Taiwanese company accused of causing mass fish deaths off the central coast, according to media.

Protesters gathered on Sunday for the second time in a week to express their outrage at the poisoning waters near the central province of Ha Tinh, which has left tonnes of fish and clams dead and decimated the local fishing industry.

Taiwanese steel mill Formosa has been accused of overseeing a toxic leak, even though an official investigation found no links between the fish deaths and the company.

Last week, hundreds took to the street in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s second-largest city, to protest against a unit of Formosa.

The Taiwanese company has denied any wrongdoing.

The fish mass deaths emerged in the Ha Tinh province one month ago. Fish also washed ashore in three other provinces along a stretch of 200 kilometres.

Vietnam’s central provinces are heavily dependent on seafood, including farmed shrimp, catfish and wild-caught tuna.

Last year the country earned $6.6 billion from seafood exports.

Demonstrations are rare in Vietnam and are often quickly suppressed by uniformed and plain-clothes police. State-controlled media has not reported any of the demonstrations.

– with other agencies