It's not a good day to be a cow on the move.
Around 4:00 a.m. Thursday, a pair of tractor-trailers overturned in both the eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 40 between McLoud Road and State Highway 102 between Oklahoma City and Shawnee. That's just to the west of the Firelake Grand Casino and Hotel - roughly mile markers 170 to 178.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says one of the semis was hauling approximately 120 head of cattle, and cows were reported up to five miles east and west of the accident site, and causing additional collisions.
Cows loose on I-40 after cattle truck crashes, traffic being diverted http://t.co/lobXEqSU4n pic.twitter.com/ng9waRhKcO
— KFOR (@kfor) June 11, 2015
Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman Capt. Paul Timmons told The Oklahoman numerous cows were killed, and many more were injured and unaccounted for.
"We probably won't know for sure how many are dead until later today," Timmons said. A professional cattle-wrangling outfit has been called to respond to the scene, Timmons said.
Westbound traffic is being diverted at SH-102 - that's the casino exit - and eastbound traffic is being diverted at Harrah-Newalla Road.
In Tulsa, a cattle truck also overturned on the westbound Interstate 244 ramp to southbound I-444. State troopers also say that semi was spilling diesel into the roadway.
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