Around 30,000 chickens died from smoke suffocation in a poultry farm in Albuñán (Comarca de Guadix) yesterday.

The fire broke out around 16.00h and wiped out three quarters of the chickens in the fattening shed. None of the workers were in the shed at the time so nobody was hurt.

Three fire crews from one of the fire stations in the city of Granada were needed to tackle and put out the fire.

Preliminary investigations points towards a short circuit within the electrical installations, however this is yet to be confirmed.

This poultry farm in Albuñán, a municipality of only 419 inhabitants, is family run. According to the Mayor, Álvaro Guerrero, the family are in a state of shock after having lost everything in a question of hours.

It is thought that the structural integrity of the building could have been compromised and might need to come down.

As for the chickens, they died rapidly as the smoke filled the shed within ten minutes of the fire having started, according to the fire chief.

(News/Noticias: Albuñan, Guadix, Granada, Andalucia)