Fire has destroyed Cavel's horse slaughtering plant in Dekalb, Illinois in the USA.
The fire was so intense that 52 fire-fighters took more than five hours to extinguish the blaze.
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown.
Most of the 20,000-square-foot building, along with a nearby trailer, was destroyed. Damage was listed at $2 million.
In December last year, Cavel received a special-use permit to add a 10,000-square-foot addition to the existing building. The company sells horse meat for human consumption in Europe.
The plant had been the target of controversy during the past five hearings according to the Dekalb Daily Chronicle.
People living near the plant and animal rights activists, many of them from outside DeKalb, have fought against allowing the plant to move to a new location or to expand its current facility.
They claim that horse slaughtering was a business more and more people across the country were opposing and that were concerned that Cavel would increase production at a new or refurbished plant.
The Dekalb Daily Chronicle said that Cavel officials had no immediate plans to increase production and pointed to a number of government regulations that ensure the humane operation of the plant.
A manager at the plant declined to comment on what might have caused the fire. The plant had employed about 50 people.
Web posted: April 12, 2002
Category: Processor News
harris@wattpub.demon.co.uk