By Gaurav Raghuvanshi 

SINGAPORE-- Singapore Airlines Ltd. said it was helping local authorities investigate the death of 174 sheep on a cargo flight from Perth last week.

The deaths occurred on Oct. 2 on a Boeing Co. 747 freighter jet carrying 2,000 sheep to Singapore for ritual slaughter during last weekend's Muslim festival of Hari Raya Haji.

Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said initial findings point to heat stress as the cause of the deaths.

"The consignment was handled strictly according to the International Air Transport Association's procedures for the carriage of livestock," a Singapore Airlines spokesman said Wednesday, describing the incident as "unfortunate."

Singapore Mosques Korban Committee, which imported 2,200 sheep from Australia and 1,700 lambs from Ireland for this year's festival, said there was no indication of any infectious disease and the surviving animals on the flight had cleared quarantine inspection.

Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at gaurav.raghuvanshi@wsj.com

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