A lightning strike is the most likely cause of a barn fire that claimed the lives of eight horses in Massachusetts Tuesday night, according to fire officials.

Eight horses were killed Tuesday night when a two-alarm fire tore through a barn in Walpole, authorities said. The fire broke out around 11 p.m. at Mor Linn Farm, officials said. Eight horses died in the blaze, while 11 were successfully evacuated, according to June Gillis-Ahern, a friend of farm owners Catherine and Cormac Kennedy.