An estimated 18,000 milking cows were killed, and one person was left critically injured, after an explosion ripped through a Texas dairy farm on Monday. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the blast.

The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the fiery blast engulfed the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt.

The explosion rocked nearby houses and a pall of smoke could be seen 30 miles away.