A village in rural China was plunged into darkness for 10 hours after a bizarre agricultural mishap.
A farmer in Tongjiang county, Sichuan province, was attempting to airlift a pig to a slaughterhouse using a drone when the tether became snagged on a high-voltage power line.
The animal was left suspended in the air and the entire nearby village lost power.
Video footage circulated on social media shows the pig's silhouette hanging limply from the airborne device as confused residents looked on from below.
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The incident occurred in a mountainous area in China on January 24.
The farmer, who has not been publicly named, explained the isolated nature of his village makes transporting livestock by road extremely challenging.
This in turn prompted him to attempt to use drone technology for moving his animals to market.
He had scheduled the aerial transport of more than 10 pigs that day but was forced to cancel the entire operation after the first attempt went awry.
Video footage shows the drone's cable tangled in a power line and the pig dangling helplessly in the air
|X/SET NEWS
The farmer attributed the collision with the power line to inadequate visibility during the early morning flight.
"It was his mistake because it was still dark and visibility was poor at the time," the farmer said.
The power supply company dispatched a dozen workers to address the damage caused by the entangled drone.
One employee from the authority confirmed repair expenses totalled roughly 10,000 yuan (£1,100), with electricity restored to the village by 5pm on the same day.
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The farmer said the crash occurred because it was 'still dark and visibility was poor'
|X/SET NEWS
A preliminary police investigation identified potential legal violations.
Authorities suspect the farmer of both operating the drone within a prohibited airspace and exceeding the device's weight capacity.
An officer said: "We are still collecting evidence.
"If he is confirmed to have breached the law, he will face an administrative punishment and need to compensate for electricity equipment losses."
The bizarre story comes just weeks after a seaside town in New Zealand launched a fierce protest against "Chinese bucket people" stripping their beaches bare of wildlife.
Locals in the Whangaparaoa Peninsula have seen their shores depleted at an unprecedented rate, with "gatherers" arriving equipped with buckets and chisels to harvest shellfish and other species directly from the beach.
Chinese social media users have posted photos and videos of groups removing sea creatures from the water, sparking outrage among locals.
In some, children can be seen posing with large buckets of the stolen animals.
As a result, the town has been forced to erect signage along the beach in Mandarin demanding that visitors leave the rocks alone.
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