Semi driver seriously injured in Kansas crash; cattle killed, officials say

The 35-year-old driver of a semi was seriously injured and 25 of the cattle he was hauling were killed in a crash Thursday afternoon when the semi and trailer overturned in Harvey County, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The Remsen, Iowa, man hauling cattle for a Missouri company was taken by EMS to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita. The accident happened at around 2:30 p.m. when he was taking the Highway 50 westbound ramp to I-135 South.

He “went off the roadway to the right scraping the barrier wall of the ramp,” a KHP trooper wrote in a crash report.

The man was driving a 1999 Freightliner, hauling 62 cattle, trooper Kaleb Coleman said Friday. Twenty-five cattle died, including eight that needed to be humanely euthanized at the scene, he said.

Newton Fire/EMS had to cut away chunks of the trailer to free the cattle. The ramp was closed down for several hours.

This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 11:37 AM.