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About 150,000 hens were burnt alive in a fire at a poultry farm in Japan’s top egg-producing prefecture early on Wednesday, amid a nationwide egg shortage resulting from bird flu.
A security guard heard an explosion and found one of nine chicken coops at the Minori Farm in Ibaraki prefecture, north-east of Tokyo, in flames, NHK News reported.
Fire and rescue services said they received an emergency call at around 3am and dispatched 17 fire engines to fight the fire, which was extinguished only after about 4½ hours.
Local police said there were around 830,000 egg-laying hens on the farm.
