2 cows euthanized after escaping tractor-trailer with herd on the freeway

Published: Dec. 2, 2022 at 1:30 PM EST

GLENDALE, Ariz. (3TV/CBS 5/Gray News) – Two cows had to be euthanized early Friday morning after a crash involving a tractor-trailer on an Arizona freeway.

A herd of loose cattle shut down the freeway just after 4 a.m. when a semi-truck crashed into the median.

According to early estimates, about 15 to 30 cows escaped, AZ Family reported.

Officials with the Arizona Department of Public Safety said somehow the trailer door opened and the herd walked out and started running around on the freeway.

Troopers were able to wrangle them up and corral them off the freeway until another trailer arrived to pick them up.

Details on what led up to the crash are extremely limited, but investigators believe the tractor-trailer driver fell asleep. The driver was not injured.