Horrific explosion and fire kills 18,000 cows in Texas, US

In a 'horrific' incident, over 18,000 cattle have reportedly died in an explosion which was followed by a fire at a family dairy farm in Texas, US. One female agricultural employee is also reported critically injured in the explosion and. The fire was likely caused by overheated equipment, however, the exact cause of the explosion and fire is still under investigation.

The farm is based in one of the state's biggest milk production counties, Reuters stated.

The incident is reportedly to be the largest mass death of cattle in a single fire, not only in Texas, but also across the US, in at least two decades, according to data from the Animal Welfare Institute, a nonprofit that tracks barn fires.


Since 2013, over 60 lakh animals have been killed in barn fires - which the organization says are often caused by electrical malfunctions - but less than 1% of the animal casualties have been cattle.

As per the Institute data, in 2016, a blizzard killed more than 35,000 dairy cows in Texas. The following year, some cattle farmers in California lost their herds and livelihoods in devastating wildfires.

A 2022 report by the institute noted "several instances in which 100,000 to 400,000 chickens were killed in a single fire."

As emergency responders approached after 7 p.m., they witnessed the thick plume of smoke, mushrooming over the plains. The worker, whose name authorities have not released, was rushed by helicopter to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, where she was still being treated as of Thursday, officials said.