A terrible explosion occurred in a dairy farm in Texas, USA. At least 18 thousand cows have died. Local officials said that the incident happened last Tuesday.

The BBC reported that the explosion occurred at the South Fork Dairy near Dimmit, Texas. One person was seriously injured. The farm authorities believe that the explosion occurred due to the burning of methane gas from the factory equipment.

The local sheriff’s office said they received reports of a fire at his farm around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police and emergency responders then arrived and found a man trapped in the farm. He was rescued and rushed to the hospital.

According to the BBC report, it is not yet known precisely how many cows died due to fire and smoke. However, the local government office said approximately 18,000 cows are believed to have died.

Sheriff Sal Rivera told local media KFDA that some of the cattle were still alive with injuries. They have been rescued.

Regarding the explosion, he said it was likely that an appliance inside the farm had overheated and ignited on contact with methane gas. Then there was a massive explosion and fire spread throughout the farm.

In a statement sent to the BBC, the Washington DC-based Animal Welfare Institute said that if the 18,000 cattle deaths are confirmed, the explosion would be the deadliest farm fire since 2013.

Allie Granger, associate policy director at the Animal Welfare Institute, said more than 6 million animals died in U.S. farm fires in 2013. Out of this only 6 million chickens died and 7 thousand 300 cows died.

In addition, between 2018 and 2021, about 3 million animals died in fires, including 1 million 76 thousand chickens.