Major fire at pig fattening facility near Coswig: around 20,000 pigs killed

Injuries and rescue attempts

Five firefighters were injured while attempting to rescue the animals. "fünf Feuerwehrleute seien dabei verletzt worden. According to the information, 87 emergency personnel are currently engaged in follow-up extinguishing work. In addition, a fire department turntable ladder was damaged.

Emergency personnel attempted to rescue animals from the fire and opened the stable doors, allowing individual animals to escape. "Die Einsatzkräfte versuchten laut Mitteilung noch, Tiere aus dem Feuer zu retten und öffneten die Tore der Ställe, sodass einzelne Tiere fliehen konnten.

According to initial estimates, around 20,000 pigs died, though some animals were able to be rescued. In addition, according to the information, 1,700 sows died, while 1,300 sows survived the inferno. Police spoke of a "schweren Feuer in einer Schweinemastanlage in Sachsen-Anhalt, bei dem 20.000 Schweine gestorben seien.

Cause of the fire and aftermath

Flying ash triggered several small fires on an adjacent field, according to the information, but these were able to be extinguished. "Umherfliegende Asche löste den Angaben zufolge mehrere kleine Brände auf einem angrenzenden Feld aus, die aber gelöscht werden konnten.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing. "Die Brandursache ist noch unklar. Die Polizei hat dazu bislang keine weiteren Angaben gemacht. The amount of property damage is also currently still being assessed by police.

The damage overall runs into the millions. "Der Schaden geht in die Millionen. Die Polizei schätzt den Schaden auf rund neun Millionen Euro. Further investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.