(Houston) Some 18,000 cows died in the explosion of a dairy farm in Texas, in the southern United States, authorities announced on Thursday, who also reported one person injured.

“This is the deadliest livestock farm fire in Texas history and the investigation and clearing is likely to take time,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said. , in a press release.

The explosion and fire ravaged the Southfork dairy farm, located near the town of Dimmit, in the Texas region of the Panhandle, during the night from Monday to Tuesday.

Firefighters and police dispatched to the scene “discovered that a person was trapped inside”. The farm worker was rescued and airlifted to a hospital, the Castro County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook.

The cause of the explosion and fire has not been determined, said Miller, who called the event “terrible”.

“As soon as we know the cause and the facts surrounding this tragedy, we will ensure that the public is fully informed, so that such disasters can be avoided in the future,” he added.

Castro County Sheriff Sal Rivera told CBS Amarillo that a barn manure system may have been “overheated.”

He added that the methane could have “ignited and then spread with the explosion and the fire”, adding that an investigation has been opened.