Spain: Farm workers accused of killing 72 piglets by jumping on them in video shared via WhatsApp

Two farm workers are being investigated by Spanish police after allegedly recording themselves crushing dozens of piglets to death. A 19-year-old and 22-year-old have been accused of filming the alleged animal cruelty with their mobile phones and sharing it via WhatsApp.

The deaths were said by Guardia Civil to have taken place on 7 January at a pig farm in Huercal-Overa, southern Spain. Officers said 19 pigs were crushed to death while 53 others later died of their wounds.

They told El Diario the workers killed the piglets while they were being transferred from one place to another by "jumping and letting themselves fall onto them".

The police told an AFP reporter: "When the piglets were in the transfer corridor, they closed the entrance and exit, leaving the animals locked up without any means of escape.

"At that moment, while one of them was filming with his mobile phone, the other worker would jump into the corridor ... falling with all his weight on the piglets, slaughtering 19 pigs and injuring 53 others who later died of their wounds."

The head of the farm reported the incident to police after finding out what had happened, the Guardia Civil said.