Cowboy helps wrangle surviving cattle after hauler overturns on Oklahoma interstate

Several cattle are dead after a hauler crashed and rolled over in the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 early Tuesday in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

The incident caused a major disruption to the morning rush hour near Tinker Air Force Base. Crews called a cowboy to help clear the scene and wrangle the cows that survived.

“First and foremost, we want to make sure they’re all OK. We want to get the cattle back to them, wherever they need them,” Caden Mayberry, a cowboy who assisted, said.

The cattle-hauler crash required a cowboy, firefighters, lane closures and state troopers. Many cows survived, thanks to the help of another cowboy.

“We (were) all rushing around in coordination with the firefighters and OHP to get it cut open as quick as we could and get cows out,” Mayberry said.

Authorities said they found people trapped inside the cattle hauler’s cab when they arrived at the crash site.

“When we arrived on scene, there was a father and son in the cab that we had to extricate out,” David Richardson with the Midwest City Fire Department said.

Fire department officials said there were around 62 cows in the hauler. At least 12 of them died.

Heavy tools were used on the trailer to open areas of it to get to the cows.

Officials did not say where the father and son were coming from and going to, and the cause of the crash is under investigation. The area where the crash happened, though, is a spot officials know well.

“This curve right here has been pretty notorious for a lot of wrecks over the years,” Richardson said. “It’s kind of a zig and a zag right here. You’re moving along straight as you’re heading westbound, and it turns pretty quickly.”