Texas dairy farm explosion kills 18,000 cows

At least 18,000 cows were killed in a devastating blast that took place at a dairy farm in Texas, a state in the South Central region of the United States, earlier this week.

A person also sustained critical injuries in the explosion, at South Fork Dairy near the town of Dimmitt, BBC reports quoting local authorities. Authorities believe that machinery in the facility may have ignited methane gas.

Around three million farm animals died in fires across the US between 2018 and 2021, according to the reports.

The Castro County Sheriff's Office said they had received a report of a fire at the farm around 19:21 on Monday (00:21 GMT Tuesday). Photos posted by the Sheriff's Office show a huge plume of black smoke rising from the ground.

On information police and emergency personnel reached the scene, and they found a person trapped who had to be rescued and flown to a hospital in critical condition.

While the exact figure of cows that were killed by the fire and smoke remains unknown, the Sheriff's Office told the BBC that an "estimated 18,000 head of cattle" had been lost.