A semi-truck hauling 120 head of cattle crashed and overturned on a Kansas City highway early Sunday morning, sending animals scattering through downtown streets while two people were hospitalized and crews scrambled to contain a diesel spill. The wreck tied up traffic and left first responders wrangling loose livestock alongside a crash scene just blocks from the city's core.
Crash Near Admiral Boulevard Triggers Chaotic Scene
The Kansas City Fire Department responded to a two-vehicle crash on I-70 near Admiral Boulevard around 3 a.m. Sunday, according to KSHB 41. One patient from each vehicle involved was taken to a hospital for injuries, the station reported. The crash involved the overturned semi carrying the cattle, and some of the animals aboard did not survive, per the same report.
Of the cattle that survived, some remained inside the overturned trailer while others wandered loose through the highways and downtown area, the outlet noted. Loose cattle were reported roaming from Pershing Road and Main Street all the way to Kansas City, Kansas, spreading the response across a wide stretch of the urban core.
Crews Work to Wrangle Animals and Clean Up Fuel
KCPD contacted outside resources to help capture the loose cattle, according to KCFD Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins, as cited by the station's report. Hopkins also said the crash spilled diesel onto the highway, and crews were working to clean up the fuel as the animal-recovery effort continued around them.
Drivers were asked to use caution while driving downtown and to avoid the area if possible, per the same account. The dual nature of the response — chasing cattle through city streets while simultaneously containing a fuel spill and managing an active crash scene — stretched first responders across several blocks of downtown Kansas City.
Not the First Cattle Spill on Kansas City Highways
Sunday's crash echoes an earlier Kansas City incident in which an overturned cattle trailer on southbound I-35/29 at Front Street forced traffic to divert off the Front Street exit ramp while first responders blocked lanes, according to KSHB 41's coverage of that crash. In that earlier wreck, some animals were killed or injured, and crews worked to reload the surviving cattle onto another trailer.
Cattle-hauling mishaps aren't limited to the Kansas City area. In western Kansas, a truck carrying cattle overturned in Hodgeman County, and KSN News reported that animals were roaming loose within a three-mile radius of the crash site. That driver had reportedly been trying to find a way around a highway detour tied to a bridge replacement and paving project on Kansas 156. The Hodgeman County Sheriff's Office said semitrucks had been ignoring the official detour since April, repeatedly getting stuck on muddy back roads in their attempts to bypass it.
