18,000 cows die in ‘horrific’ explosion in Texas

A huge explosion and fire at a dairy farm has killed about 18,000 cows. It’s thought that methane may have ignited, sparking a fire.

The explosion and fire killed about 18,000 cows, near Dimmitt, Texas. Picture: Castro County Sheriff's Office/AFP

About 18,000 cows have been killed in a “horrific” explosion and fire at a dairy farm in the southern US state of Texas.

One agricultural worker was also injured, authorities said on Thursday.

It’s thought that machinery in the facility may have ignited methane gas.

“This was the deadliest barn fire for cattle in Texas history and the investigation and clean-up may take some time,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a statement.

The explosion and fire ripped through the Southfork Dairy Farms near the town of Dimmitt in the Texas Panhandle on Monday night.

A photo showed an enormous plume of smoke rising into the sky following the incident.

Many of the cattle died because a fire spread to an area where the cows were being held before being taken to a milking area and then into a holding pen, the BBC reports.

“There’s some that survived,” Sheriff Sal Rivera told local news outlet KFDA.

“There’s some that are probably injured to the point where they’ll have to be destroyed.”

The explosion and fire killed about 18,000 cows, near Dimmitt, Texas. Picture: Castro County Sheriff's Office/AFP

The explosion created a huge plume of smoke. Picture: AFP

Firefighters and police rushed to the scene and “determined that one person was trapped inside,” the Castro County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. The person was rescued and flown to a hospital in Lubbock, it said.

The cause of the explosion and fire were not immediately clear, said Miller, who described it as a “horrific event.”

“Once we know the cause and the facts surrounding this tragedy, we will make sure the public is fully informed — so tragedies like this can be avoided in the future,” he said.

Castro County Sheriff Sal Rivera told the CBS affiliate in Amarillo that a system to remove manure from the barns may have gotten “overheated.” He said methane may have “ignited and then spread out with the explosion and the fire,” adding that a probe would have to determine the precise cause.

“Farms must do more to protect animals by adopting commonsense fire safety measures,” tweeted the Animal Welfare Institute, one of the oldest animal welfare charities in the United States, referring to the Texas tragedy.

- with AFP