Photo courtesy of the City of Early Facebook page

The Early Police Department posted the following on Facebook Friday night:

On Friday evening at approximately 5:30 p.m. an 18-wheeler, traveling to San Angelo, was turning onto Early Blvd. from the Zephyr Highway (U.S. 84/183) hauling cattle and overturned in the intersection. Early Police and Fire, Lifeguard EMS, Brown County SO and DPS responded to the accident where traffic had to be rerouted for several hours.

Multiple volunteers with cattle trailers worked for hours to free the cattle trapped in the trailer. Three veterinarians responded to check the health of the cattle as they were freed from wreckage. Unfortunately, four of the 40 head had to be euthanized due to severe injuries. At approximately 9:30 p.m. the scene was cleared and traffic resumed to normal.

A huge thank you to the volunteers who worked for hours to free cattle and get them transported to some pens for to get water and rest.