A SEVERED human head was spotted floating in a lake in Nanshan District on Sunday afternoon but a body had not been found, yesterday's Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

According to witnesses who were fishing at the lake on Xiangshan Street Central, a basketball-size object caught their attention. "On closer observation, I found that it was acutally a head," said a male witness who gave only his last name, Wang.

Wang said it was difficult to tell if it was a male or female as it had probably been in the water for several days.

The discovery caused some panic in the neighborhood of the upmarket housing estate Portofino in Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) where the lake is situated. The report said many people were playing around the lake and enjoying the sun.

After hearing the news, a number of curious people surrounded the area trying to get a glimpse of the head, said another witness surnamed Cao, adding that fears that a killer was hiding in the neighborhood quickly spread.

Nanshan police were called in to investigate. The Daily quoted a police spokesman saying that no details would be available before an autopsy.

(Claudia Wei)