Explosion kills over 18,000 cows in Texas dairy farm disaster
A shot of smoke billowing into the sky after the explosion. Picture: Castro County Sheriff's Office
More than 18,000 cows have died after an explosion and fire at a dairy farm in Texas.
Emergency services managed to rescue one employee from the Southfork Dairy near Dimmitt on Monday, the Castro County Sheriff's Office told local media at a conference.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Authorities believe machinery in the facility may have ignited methane gas.
Speaking to local news outlet KFDA, Sheriff Sal Rivera said most of the cattle had been lost after the blaze spread to an area in which cows were held before being taken to a milking area and then into a holding pen.
"There's some that survived
"There's some that are probably injured to the point where they'll have to be destroyed."
According to the Animal Welfare Institute, nearly 6.5m farm animals have been killed in barn fires since 2013.
