An explosion in South Fork Dairy, near the town of Dimmitt in Texas, left a human in critical condition and took away the lives of more than 18, 000 cows. The heart-wrenching incident was also caught on camera. The video of the massive explosion at the dairy farm no sooner surfaced on the internet.
Visuals posted by the Sheriff's Office showed a huge plume of black smoke rising from the ground.
In a statement sent to the BBC, the Washington DC-based Animal Welfare Institute said that - if confirmed - a death toll of 18,000 cows would be "by far" the deadliest barn fire involving cattle since it began keeping statistics in 2013.
"It is hard to imagine anything worse than being burned alive," Allie Granger, policy associate for AWI's farm animal program was quoted in the BBC report. The official further pointed out that the industry will remain focused on this issue and strongly encourage farms to adopt fire safety measures.
In response to the massive fire that killed thousands of cows, Dimmitt Mayor Roger Malone told USA Today, "It's mind-boggling. I don’t think it's ever happened before around here. It's a real tragedy." The Texas fire is the "deadliest fire" involving cattle we know of, according to reports.
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