Kansas trucker, cattle die in I-84 crash; others ran loose

(Update: Driver identified; details on number of cattle)

A cattle truck struck a guardrail and overturned on Interstate 84 in Eastern Oregon Tuesday afternoon, killing the driver as well as five cattle, while others escaped and were loose on the freeway, prompting its partial closure for about 90 miles in the area, officials said.

Oregon State Police and emergency personnel were on the scene of the single-vehicle crash on westbound I-84 near milepost 284 in Union County, Captain Tim Fox said.

The truck operator, later identified as Shannon Dwinell, 46, of Great Bend, Kansas, died at the scene of the crash, which occurred two miles west of North Powder. Fox said his truck, loaded with 28 cattle, left the road for unknown reasons, hit the guardrail and overturned.

Several of the other cattle escaped and were loose on the freeway for a time.

ODOT TripCheck indicated the freeway’s westbound lanes were closed from milepost 374, three miles west of Ontario, to milepost 283. The freeway later reopened.