EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a tractor-trailer hauling cattle overturned south of Emporia, killing two dozen of the animals.
Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Justin Wallace says the driver was transporting the cattle to Arkansas City to be slaughtered when he fell asleep just after midnight Wednesday and went off the side of Interstate 35. Besides the 24 cattle that died when the rig overturned, 13 were pulled from the wreckage alive. Wallace says the surviving cattle are in a pen waiting to resume their journey.
Wallace says the driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. No one else was hurt.
The crash disrupted southbound traffic as crews worked to get the rig upright and repair damaged asphalt.
