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Driver Flicks Cigarette, 6 Horses Burn to Death

Motorist ignites hay in trailer transporting young thoroughbreds

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 18, 2011 1:39 AM CDT

(Newser) – Six racehorses burned to death when a passing driver flicked a still-burning cigarette butt into their trailer as it traveled down a North Carolina highway on Friday night. The hay was ignited, and quickly killed the frantic thoroughbreds on their way to New York's Belmont racetrack. The trailer's driver pulled over when she and her partner spotted smoke, and one of them suffered burns trying to save the animals. The trailer was fully engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived.

The 2-year-old horses were being trasported from Florida to begin training at Belmont and make their first races. They belonged to top trainers and Barry Schwarz, a childhood pal of Calvin Klein who co-founded the fashion empire. Police have no leads yet into the identity of the careless driver, reports the Daily Mail.

The charred hulk of a trailer carrying six horses sits on the side of a North Carolina highway.
The charred hulk of a trailer carrying six horses sits on the side of a North Carolina highway.   (YouTube)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 22 comments
HMunster
Apr 18, 2011 2:29 PM CDT
Just one more reason why I hate smokers...
chickenfried
Apr 18, 2011 10:19 AM CDT
I call BS on this story. The floor of the trailer would be a hard rubber nonskid surface, not loose hay. It would be criminal to haul any horse ,much less a race horse, on loose hay. Its too easy for them to slip and break a leg trying to keep their balance in a moving trailer. No one is going to haul horses that far with the side windows fully open. You would have the vents open only. The odds of throwing a cigarette out the window of a moving car with the wind going by it, into the wind blowing past the trailer, and getting the cigararette into the trailer are high enough to make it impossible. On the other hand if the driver or passenger tossed one out the window it would be more possible for it to reach the trailer.
rothiri
Apr 18, 2011 9:42 AM CDT
There is no excuse for throwing your "habit" out the window, my sister smokes and uses a coke can for her ashes and butts. You wouldn't like it if I throw pizza boxes out the window (I eat pizza, smokers smoke - if they toss their trash out the window, why can't I)

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