Dairy farm explosion critically injures one person and kills around 18,000 cows


ESCALON, CA - JUNE 02: Cows wait to be milked at the Faria Dairy Farm June 2, 2009 in Escalon, California. As milk prices continue to plummet due to a weakening international and national demand, dairy farmers across the U.S. are struggling to turn a profit prompting many to sell off their cattle for slaughter and turn fields into corn crops. Within the past year, milk went from $17 per one hundred pounds down to $10 per hundred pounds. Most dairy farmers need to make at least $15 per hundred pounds to break even. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

OAN Roy Francis
UPDATED 10:43 AM – Thursday, April 13, 2023

Around 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured when an explosion occurred at a dairy farm in Texas.

The explosion happened at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt, around 7:30 P.M. on Monday evening. The explosion had left around 18,000 cows dead, which is estimated to be around 20% of the total number of cows killed per day in the United States.

According to Fox News, the Castro County Sheriff’s Office had confirmed that the cows were in a holding area waiting to be brought into the facility for milking when the explosion occurred. Local outlet KFDA reported that “very few cows” survived the explosion.

Police said that they had received eight calls around 7:30 p.m. on Monday reporting the explosion and a fire, with some of the callers reporting that employees were still stuck inside the facility. Local law enforcement found one woman trapped in the facility when they arrived on scene.

The trapped individual was rescued and then airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock, around 80 miles away from the scene of the explosion, for treatment.

Officials said that all other employees were safe and accounted for.

Although the exact cause of the explosion has not yet been confirmed, Sheriff Sal Rivera said that early indications point to the “honey badger” system overheating and catching fire which led to the explosion.

“The speculation was probably what they call a honey badger, which is a vacuum that sucks the manure and water out and possibly that it got overheated and probably the methane and things like that ignited and spread out and exploded and the fire,” Rivera told KSAT.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts





Source link

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*