Stable fire kills 28 racehorses

Mount Hope Training Center, where the blaze occurred

More than two dozen racehorses have died after a fire
broke out in a stable in upstate New York.

The barn blaze at Mount Hope Training Center, a
300-acre facility in Orange County, New York, killed all 28 horses
inside in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“We could not save one horse,” an employee who
identified himself as Saur told the New York Post. “They are all dead.”

Saur said that the horses had returned from a
racing event at around 1.30am. An hour and a half later, another
worker arrived to feed the horses.

An unidentified groom told horseracing website Paulick Report what happened next.

“He saw half the barn on fire,” he said. “He
came back and shouted, ‘Fire! fire!’ and everybody was running to
help to save the horses.”

Multiple fire crews also attended the scene.
However, the fire spread too rapidly and none of the 28 horses
housed inside could be saved.

“They were crying like babies,” Saur told the
Post. “They are like humans…” he said. “This is killing
me.”

The local fire department is said to be
investigating a lightning strike as a potential cause of the deadly
inferno.