Missouri state troopers say a six-vehicle chain reaction crash on I-70’s Rocheport bridge Tuesday happened when traffic was slowing due to construction, which restricted traffic to one lane.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s crash report says an unknown vehicle swerved and braked abruptly in front of another vehicle, which caused the crash to happen at about 10 on Tuesday morning.
The six vehicles blocked westbound I-70 for about five hours, causing traffic to be backed up in both directions for miles. That’s because cattle escaped from one of the vehicles. Our news partner KMIZ reports three cows died when they escaped and jumped from the bridge.
The Boone County Fire Protection District says the truck was carrying 57 head of cattle, which had to be off-loaded on the bridge and cows moved to stock trailers. Troopers report only one minor injury to a motorist, a 61-year-old man from St. Charles.
One 939 the Eagle employee says it took her two-and-a-half hours to drive from Boonville to Columbia on Wednesday. That’s normally about a 30-minute drive or so.