17 cattle get loose on roadway on I-80 after livestock truck crashes near Joliet; eastbound lanes blocked

By KRIS HABERMEHL

Click here for updates on this story

    JOLIET, Illinois (WBBM) — The eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 are blocked in Joliet, after a livestock truck crashed Tuesday afternoon, and a group of cows and bulls that was being hauled ended up roaming the expressway.

Illinois State Police said around 3:40 p.m., troopers responded to a crash involving a cattle hauler on I-80 near Houbolt Road. Several cows and bulls ended up on the loose in the eastbound lanes.

CBS 2’s Kris Habermehl reports the cattle hauler collided with a second semi trailer truck, and was severely damaged in the crash, with the trailer ripped open, allowing cattle to roam onto the roadway. The damaged cattle hauler ended up in the center median after the crash.

The driver of the cattle hauler suffered life-threatening injuries and was rushed to the hospital. No other human injuries were reported.

About two or three dozen head of cattle were onboard the livestock carrier.

Several animals did not survive the crash and were thrown onto the road and median.

Others escaped and were held at bay in two separate pens made up of vehicles.

Police said all eastbound lanes of I-80 have been shut down from Houbolt Road to Larkin Avenue, and will be closed for an until all the cattle are wrangled.

Traffic in the westbound lanes also was reduced to one lane at the scene of the crash, with traffic moving very slowly.

Several heavy tow trucks have responded to the scene to begin hauling away the damaged trucks once another cattle hauler was brought in to haul away the surviving animals.

At one point, four cowboys on horseback were called to wrangle a couple of cattle that had escaped. About six others had been caught by 5:50 p.m.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.