By Jeremy Cook
A number of cattle are confirmed to have been killed in a truck rollover which left one of Warwick’s main routes into town shut for nine hours on Sunday.
Police said a B-double semi trailer carrying livestock had been travelling north along Albion Street, approaching the O.O. Madsen Bridge, when it rolled into a traffic barrier and caught fire at about 10am on 23 June.
Fire crews were called to the incident, which Warwick Police officer-in-charge Shane Reid said caused “extensive damage” to the truck and its trailers.
Sergeant Reid said the driver remained uninjured, but confirmed an estimated 16 animals were killed.
He said the remaining cattle “were rounded up and contained” by onlookers and emergency services.
The road, which forms part of the Cunningham and New England highways, remained closed while emergency services cleared debris and replaced a light pole which police said had been brought down in the crash.
The Cunningham and New England highways are major transport routes which link Warwick with surrounding towns in the Darling Downs region as well as Ipswich and Brisbane.
A spokeswoman for QPS said the road did not reopen until after 7pm.
Sergeant Reid said the cause of the crash was “under investigation”.
“Given you’ve got merging lanes there, there could be any number of reasons,” he said.
“At this stage, investigations are continuing.”
