Cattle trailer loaded with livestock overturned in Texas

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Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Cattle truck overturns
Cattle truck overturns

CROSBY, Texas -- Deputies are working to rescue as many cows as they can after a cattle trailer overturned near Houston, Texas.

The accident happened a short time after 4 a.m. at the Crosby Freeway at East Sam Houston Tollway, near South Lake Houston.

Inside that overturned trailer are 123 head of cattle, ABC13 in Houston has learned.

Crash involving an 18-wheeler on US 90 at South Lake Houston Parkway.

Traffic has been backed up behind this scene all morning long.

HCSO livestock deputies arrived to the scene a short time ago and began pulling the surviving cows out of the trailer.

The deputies cautioned emergency crews at the scene to not open the trailer before their arrival. The fear was that any cows which survived the wreck could escape, creating an even bigger situation on the freeway.

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One by one, the surviving cows began running into a makeshift area right off the freeway. Sadly, our crews at the scene have seen some dead cattle as a result of the crash.

A large skid can be seen behind this accident, showing just how far the trailer was dragged before coming to a stop.

Early expectations were that the freeway would remain closed for four to six hours.