Dozens of cattle escaped onto a Kansas City, Missouri, street early Sunday after a semitrailer plunged from a downtown highway overpass and landed on a car. The crash closed several roads and prompted an extensive search for surviving animals.
The collision happened shortly before 3 a.m., and authorities continued rounding up the cattle until early afternoon.
The truck driver and the driver of the vehicle struck by the trailer suffered minor injuries and were treated at local hospitals, authorities said.
Kansas City Police Sgt. Phil DiMartino said between 45 and 60 of the truck’s estimated 120 to 130 cattle died when the semitrailer overturned while traveling on the westbound I-70 curve over southbound I-35.
Other cattle ran from the wreck, leading to additional crashes and a wave of calls from residents reporting the loose animals, DiMartino said.
“It is believed all cows have now been accounted for,” DiMartino said in an updated statement released Sunday afternoon.
The crash occurred as the Kansas City Chiefs prepared to host the Los Angeles Chargers in an NFL game. Authorities did not expect major problems with game-day traffic because the accident had received widespread publicity.
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Some of the cattle traveled several miles from the crash site before firefighters and others captured them, Kansas City Fire Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said.
“It was a pretty nasty accident,” Hopkins said.
City officials deployed drones soon after the crash to monitor the animals. A private company working with the trucking firm later sent horseback riders and other workers to help bring the cattle back, Hopkins said.
“More difficult has been getting the animals who did not survive,” he added.
