18,000 cows have died in an explosion at a dairy farm in Texas. The incident, which occurred at South Fork Dairy near Dimmitt, left one person in a critical condition.
Officials suspect that machinery at the facility may have triggered a blast due to methane gas ignition, reports the BBC. Photos shared by the Castro County Sheriff's Office show a massive plume of black smoke billowing from the site.
Emergency responders had to rescue and transport one person to the hospital. While the exact number of cows lost to the fire and smoke remains unknown, authorities estimate the death toll at around 18,000 head of cattle.
Sheriff Sal Rivera said that most of the cows were lost in an area where they were held before being taken for milking, and some surviving cows may need to be euthanized due to injuries sustained in the incident.
The Animal Welfare Institute based in Washington DC expressed concern over the high number of animal deaths in barn fires and urged farms to adopt better fire safety measures.
According to the Animal Welfare Institute, since 2013, nearly 6.5 million farm animals have died in barn fires, with approximately 6 million of them being chickens and around 7,300 being cows.
Between 2018 and 2021, nearly 3 million farm animals perished in fires, with the six largest fires accounting for 1.76 million chicken deaths.
