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Cows rain down on drivers after crash in Utah

About 25 cows fell onto the road from a freeway overpass

Emily Shugerman
New York
Thursday 23 November 2017 17:29 GMT
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Cows plummet to their deaths from motorway bridge after truck carrying them rolls over

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Drivers in Riverdale, Utah experienced some unexpected bumps on their morning commute when cows began raining down on them from the road above.

A semi-truck transporting cattle through the small town crashed on a freeway overpass just before noon, sending its cargo spilling into the road below. The freeway ramp was temporarily closed in the aftermath, as crews attempted to clear the scene of cattle.

The driver was speeding in the 45-mph (72-kph) area, Riverdale Police Lieutenant Mike Loveland told The Independent. While rounding a curve on an exit ramp, the truck crashed into a low wall, causing it to spill cattle.

Kerri Kofoed told the Deseret News she was driving down the freeway on Wednesday when "a big black blob came flying at the windshield." Her car slammed into the median wall and drove over the fallen cow before coming to a stop, she said.

Ms Kofoed said she felt "major gratitude that just one cow hit me and that it didn't bust through the windshield."

Footage from the scene shows several cows splayed on the road below the crash, while others rest calmly in the grass to the side.

Approximately 25 cows fell from the overpass, Fox 13 reported, but it is unclear how many were killed. The driver was not injured in the crash, but was issued a citation, Mr Loveland said. The freeway ramp was reopened at 3:30pm.

“The way I understand it is that [the cows] all off the freeway at this point,” Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Zach Whitney told the Salt Lake Tribune at 3:40 pm.

A similar incident occurred last year, when another semi-truck crashed on the same freeway ramp, killing 70 of the 80 cows inside, according to the Tribune. Authorities said speeding was also to blame in that crash.

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