An extreme heat wave and a drought in China have lowered water levels in the Yangtze River, revealing three Buddhist statues that have long been submerged.

Reuters news agency reported that the statues were found on the highest part of an island reef usually below the waterline in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

Reuters quoted China's state media Xinhua as reporting that the statues are believed to be 600 years old.

A local man said he came to visit the site to see the statues, believing that they would disappear under the water once the river returns to normal. He called them cultural properties left by ancestors.