Thousands of chickens died in a fire at a poultry farm in Sassenberg-Füchtorf in Münsterland. According to a spokesman for the Warendorf district, 27,000 animals were housed there – not a single one survived, as announced by the district veterinarian. The roof structure of the large building burned to the ground for reasons that are still unknown, according to the report firefighter.
120 firefighters have been carrying out a large-scale operation since midday to control the fire – including fire engines from nearby fire stations. As the building is in danger of collapsing, it cannot be entered at this time for further extinguishing work, the fire department operations manager at the scene said in the afternoon. To extinguish further embers, the roof panels must be removed first.
Firefighters were alerted at 11:42 p.m. High plumes of smoke were already visible on the way there, the operations manager said. Meanwhile, local residents have been warned of thick smoke. However, there were no injuries.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251113-930-289970/1
