A fire broke out in the middle of the night on Sunday in a stud farm in the town of Bernesq, in Calvados, and 70 horses died in the flames, according to an initial report from the prefecture.
The fire, which started around 5:40 a.m., affected a 500 m2 shed belonging to the Bernesq stud farm, located on the castle grounds of this small town in Bessin, and dedicated to the breeding of race horses.
A slight injury
“Checks are necessary but there are 70 dead horses”, mares and foals which were in this shed, the Calvados prefecture told AFP. Firefighters were still on scene late Sunday morning. “Animals were actually burned alive”, Patrick Johannin, the mayor of the town, confirms to Ouest-France.
A 21-year-old man was injured in the hands and transported to Bayeux hospital in relative emergency, report our colleagues from France Bleu Normandie. The building was completely destroyed, they said.
According to the prefecture, the origin of the fire is a priori accidental but investigations will be carried out by the gendarmerie as part of an open investigation to determine the precise causes.
