WORLD
LIGHTNING KILLS 31 COWS IN CENTRAL DENMARK
According to information received by AzerTAj, a Danish cattle farmer lost 31 of his 85 Jersey dairy cows when lightning struck the trees under which they had sought shelter during a rainstorm.
The cattle were found dead Tuesday afternoon on farmer Kurt Nielsen’s land near Assing, about 270 kilometers west of Copenhagen.
“This seems to be one of nature’s caprices,” Nielsen told Denmark’s TV2 network, adding that lightning struck several times Tuesday morning around his farm and the lights went out briefly.
That day, the Danish Meteorological Institute recorded 5,808 lightning strikes across central Denmark.
Veterinarian Johannes Kejser told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper that the cows were killed instantly.
The Danish Insurance Information Service said it had never heard of so many cows being killed by lightning at one time. Nielsen said his insurance company had promised a compensation for the dead livestock and lost milk income.