ST. GABRIEL, LA (WAFB) -
A section of LA 30 was closed for 13 hours after two 18-wheelers and a car hit about two dozen cows, causing one of the big rigs to flip.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development said a tow truck had to upright and load the overturned tractor trailer.
LA 30 was shut down between Bayou Paul Lane and LA 74 in St. Gabriel around 2:30 a.m. due to the crash.
Chief Kevin Ambeau with St. Gabriel Police said 17 cows were killed and another 10 or so were injured after wandering onto the highway. He said a total of about 63 cows escaped their fenced-in location. He said the cows that were unharmed were returned to the pastures. The cows belong to the LSU Ag Center.
The LSU Ag Center released the following statement:
Sixty three calves escaped through their paddock gate at the LSU AgCenter's Reproductive Biology Center in St. Gabriel early Thursday morning after probably having been frightened by early morning storms.
They proceeded west on the facility's entrance road toward highway 30. The animals left the property by walking around a security gate designed to stop vehicles at the entrance.
Seventeen calves were killed by collision or euthanized because of extensive injuries. They were removed from the scene and buried on the facility's property, for which the AgCenter has a permit.
The remainder of the loose cattle have been rounded up and returned to the center. An ear tag count accounted for all the animals.
Ambeau added the overturned semi-truck was carrying molten sulphur.
"That's a product that gets hard, and it turns into a solid with temperature. So Haz-Mat said it was no hazardous conditions that we'd have to evacuate the area," said Ambeau.
The dead and injured cows were removed from the roadway by 6:30 a.m.
One person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, but it was not indicated which vehicle the person was in at the time of the wreck.
The accident happened near the St. Gabriel Police Department.
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Two 18-wheelers hit over two dozen cows, causing one of them to overturn. A section of LA 30 in St. Gabriel is closed while the mess is cleaned up.
The dead and injured cows were removed from the roadway by 6:30 a.m.
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