The piggery fire outside the village of Bessbrook in south Armagh last weekend was most likely an accident and not due to arson as originally reported when the story first broke.

The incident attracted national media attention after the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) released a statement suggesting that up to 800 sows and 3,500 piglets had died in the blaze, and that it might have been caused by arson.

“They did retract that statement about suspected arson and have apologised to me,” farm owner Malcolm Keys told the Irish Farmers Journal.

He said that fire was probably caused by an electrical fault, and that while he did not know the final number of dead animals, it was definitely less than the 4,300 estimated by the NIFRS.

It is understood that most of the animals were found lying individually around the floor of the houses, suggesting they were killed by intense smoke, not the actual blaze.

The farm at Bessbrook is one of a number of sites operated by M Keys Farms Ltd, a business that has quietly grown over the years and is now one of the largest pig-producing businesses in Ireland.

Ten units of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) were called to the farm shortly before 6am on Saturday last (26 April) after the fire broke out. It took up to seven hours to get the blaze under control.