The driver of a semi was hurt and 20 head of cattle were killed when the truck rolled off Kansas Highway 99 near Olpe on Wednesday.
Deputy Tera Gifford says 76-year-old David Simon of Eureka was hauling close to 90 cattle northbound on the highway, but one of his right-side tires left the road about two miles south of Olpe shortly before 5:30 pm. The semi and its trailer then went into a ditch and rolled onto the passenger side.
Simon initially declined treatment at the scene but later went to a currently unnamed hospital by private vehicle. He was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Authorities have not said how many cattle were injured in the wreck, and they have not said where the cattle were loaded or where they were headed. Initial reports had 44 cattle on board.
Traffic was either blocked at or detoured around the crash site for better than four hours afterward.
9:30 pm Wednesday: Investigation underway after semi wreck kills cattle near Olpe
Cattle are dead or injured after a semi crash south of Olpe on Wednesday evening.
The wreck happened in the 500 block of Kansas Highway 99, or about two miles south of Olpe, shortly before 5:30 pm. Undersheriff John Koelsch tells KVOE News the semi was northbound when it apparently drifted off the highway for currently unknown reasons and rolled onto the passenger side in a ditch.
At least 44 cattle were on board at the time of the wreck. Koelsch says several died, but the number of those killed or injured is not immediately known. Authorities have not said where the cattle were loaded onto the semi or where it was headed. Koelsch says veterinarians were at the crash scene within 30 minutes of the wreck.
Traffic was either blocked at or detoured around the crash scene for better than four hours afterward.
