RÍO BUENO — Sixty-seven cows were killed earlier this week after they were electrocuted by a lightning bolt during a powerful electrical storm in southern Chile.
Local news sources reported that the single bolt on Sunday night was so strong it split a tree in two, and caused internal burns on the animals that proved to be fatal. Infobae reports that one of the cows in the herd did manage to survive, but is now blind.
According to the farm manager Carlos Godoy the estimated economic loss to the Hacienda from the deaths will exceed $290,000. “It wasn’t just a storm — the ground was shaking too,” said Río Bueno Mayor Luis Reyes. “Nobody can remember anything like this amount of thunder and lightning for years and years.”
On another nearby farm another nine cows were found dead, and three more died after a similar incident last week in the same area.
Photo of some of the electrocuted livestock via Infobae.
