Strongly snowstorm requires sacrifice among icelandic horses. Over 100 are reported missing.

About 80 icelandic horses have perished during a snowstorm in the north-west of Iceland, and over 100 are missing.

The writing nyhedsmediet Iceland Review.

It happened during a violent snowstorm in the middle of december. A veterinarian call the circumstances unprecedented.

the Worst of it was in the region of Hunavatn, where almost 80 horses died. The surviving horses suffered from extreme exhaustion. This, despite the fact that icelandic horses are known to be hardy.

There were no options to reach these horses in two or three days. The horses were completely out of sight. And under the conditions, there is nothing you can do, says the vet Sigridur Björnsdottir to the icelandic Danish broadcasting corporation had, RUV.

In the period was the small icelandic horses without food or water.

Björnsdottir, determines that there is no reason to believe that the farmers have failed to honour their horses.

- This is a traumatic experience for the farmers, and I would like to stress that it is not because they have been unprepared.

She notes that it is on many farms, the horses are dead. Should the neglect be the case, one would typically only have dead horses on a few farms.

Yet many farmers have been accused of abusing their icelandic horses.

/ritzau/