Truck carrying 130 cattle plunges off overpass, crushing car below

A semitrailer-trailer transporting livestock fell off a downtown highway overpass in Kansas City, Missouri, crushing a car early Sunday morning. The crash spilled dozens of cattle onto city streets, forcing road closures and initiating a search for surviving animals.

Emergency responders arrived just before 3 a.m., with roundup efforts for the surviving livestock extending into the early afternoon, authorities said.

Both the truck driver and the motorist whose vehicle was struck suffered minor injuries and received treatment at local hospitals.

Kansas City Police Sgt. Phil DiMartino said the trailer carried 120 to 130 cattle when it overturned along the westbound I-70 curve over southbound I-35, killing between 45 and 60 animals.

Dozens of surviving cattle fled the scene, causing secondary traffic crashes and generating numerous emergency calls to law enforcement, he said.

“It is believed all cows have now been accounted for,” DiMartino stated in an updated press release Sunday afternoon.

The incident occurred on the same day the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Los Angeles Chargers in a National Football League game. Officials did not anticipate major traffic disruptions for fans owing to extensive public notification.

Kansas City Fire Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said several cows traveled several miles before being secured.

“It was a pretty nasty accident,” Hopkins said.

City officials initially deployed drones to track the animals before horseback searchers, brought in by a private firm alongside the transport company, arrived to round up the cattle, he explained.

“More difficult has been getting the animals who did not survive,” he added.