Hundreds of seals dead on coast of Caspian Sea

Around 2,500 seals have been found dead on the Caspian Sea coast in southern Russia, officials have said.

Authorities in Dagestan said it remained unclear what had caused the animals' deaths, but that it was likely they had died of natural causes.

Regional officials initially said that 700 dead seals had been found on the coast, but Zaur Gapizov, head of the Caspian Environmental Protection Centre, said yesterday that following a broader inspection of the coast the number of dead animals was 2,500.