A massive fireball explosion killed 18,000 cows at a Texas farm as the poor animals suffocated trapped in their confines.
The deadly barn explosion killed $36million (£28million) worth of cows on South Fork Dairy farm in Dimmitt, US, as horrific images show the obliterated cattle corpses and a burned-out milk shed.
The 18,000 cows killed, which were valued around $2,000 (£1,500) each, was nearly three times the amount of cows slaughtered each day in the US. The poor animals were crammed together in a holding pen waiting to be milked when blast rang out.
Fire fighters rushed to the scene to try and bring the blaze under control after residents reported huge clouds of smoke.
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The smoke could be seen for miles and left many shutting their windows on the advice of emergency services.
Renzo Sullivan was chilling at his house when he heard a huge "boom" which left him stunned.
He told News Channel 10: "It was lowkey, crazy to hear about because we were just chilling and then we just heard a boom. Then we look in the distance and there’s just a big cloud."
Local resident Maleki Laurent was also inside her home when she looked outside her window and saw an explosion in the sky.
She said: "We look up, we’re inside and we go out and look through the window, and we just see clouds. It was like an explosion. The whole thing was on fire, and it was crazy."
Fortunately, there were no workers killed but one dairy farm worker had to be rescued.
He was rushed to hospital and currently remains in hospital in a stable condition, according to authorities.
The Animal Welfare Institute, an animal advocacy organisation, said it is the largest single-incident death of cattle since they started tracking barn fires in 2013.
It remains unclear how the fire was started but the fire is set to be detrimental to the local economy, experts have predicted, as farming industry plays a key role in Texas.
Dimmitt resident Renzo Sullivan said the loss of cows will be devastating as many livelihoods depend on the farm.
He said: “It is kind of painful because it’s like that’s kind of what we do here, and that’s how we get our money for like the city and all that. So that’s just a major drop for us.”
With the dairy farm bringing in millions of dollars, the loss of milk will also be devastating, according to local resident Alex Aguilar.
He admitted: “That’s a lot of the money that we have and then a lot of milk also too. So I think it’s really crazy that that happened."
Dimmitt Mayor Roger Malone called the fire “mind-boggling" and a "real tragedy" for the community.
He said: “I don’t think it’s ever happened before around here. It’s a real tragedy.
"This is the deadliest fire involving cattle we know of. In the past, we have seen fires involving several hundred cows at a time, but nothing anything near this level of mortality."
