Pigs burnt to death in lorry fire on motorway

Feb 15 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

A VETERINARY surgeon last night described the scene of carnage when 16 pigs were burnt alive trapped in a lorry on its way to a slaughterhouse.

Three more of the stricken animals had to be put down by police marksmen following the lorry fire on the A1 motorway in County Durham, caused by a tyre blow-out.

The pigs were part of a cargo of 200 on their way to a slaughterhouse in North Yorkshire from a farm near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.

Kennedy Makonese, from the Cestria Veterinary Centre, Chester-le-Street, was called to the scene, between the Chester-le-Street and Carrville motorway junctions, shortly after 3am.

He said: “The pigs which were burnt alive were in a hold directly above the wheel which had caught fire. Three more were in extreme pain and I quickly asked police marksmen to put them to sleep.

“The remaining pigs in the trailer were very distressed. Fire crews hosed them down to keep them cool and to try to calm them. When a replacement trailer was brought to the scene we managed to get them transferred without incident.”

The pigs were being ferried in the three-tier trailer on the southbound carriageway of the A1(M). The accident completely closed the motorway for four hours.

The northbound carriageway re-opened at 7.30am and the southbound shortly before 9am. The accident created rush-hour havoc, which extended into Durham City, with traffic diverted along the A167.

A two-car accident outside the Honest Lawyer pub on the A167 between Durham and Spennymoor yesterday morning added to the delays.