Stables on pig farm go up in flame; hundreds of pigs killed

A fire on a large pig farm in Agelo during the early hours of Monday morning killed hundreds of pigs. Two stables were completely destroyed, the fire department confirmed to ANP.

The fire started in one of the farm's two piglet stables. Firefighters tried to stop it spreading further, "but that did not work", a spokesperson said to the news wire. The fire spread to a second stable, also containing hundreds of pigs. The fire is now under control, but the fire department expects it will take another few hours to completely extinguish it.

The cause of the fire is as yet unclear. Initial reports claimed that up to 8 thousand pigs were killed. The fire department later reported, based on information from the farmer, that it was no more than a few hundred.

The farm is located on Oppersveldweg in Agelo, which falls under the Twente municipality of Dinkelland.

Honderden varkens dood door brand in Twentse megastallen: In het Twentse Agelo zijn vannacht… https://t.co/S7ik0Li0cL #nieuws #Nederland pic.twitter.com/G0dokuvbhl

— Roddy Rietveldt (@rjrietveldt) August 14, 2017