VIENNA, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 420 pigs were burnt alive Thursday in a fire at a farm in the town of St. Leonhard, in Lower Austria, local radio said.
About 100 firefighters managed to prevent the blaze from spreading to a nearby residential building and another pigsty containing 500 pigs. Work was complicated by the fact that the firemen were forced to constantly cool off two underground gas storages located near the fire source in order to prevent an explosion.
Losses from the fire are estimated at 500,000 euros ($702,000), and the cause of the blaze is currently being investigated.
