Snowplows called in for cattle cleanup after multi-vehicle crash in North Dakota

DRISCOLL, N.D. — Heavy equipment had to be brought in to clear Interstate 94 near here on Monday, Oct. 7, after three vehicles hit livestock that had congregated on the roadway.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol said the incident occurred on I-94 near Driscoll, approximately 35 miles east of Bismarck, at around 1 a.m.

Sgt. Jeremiah Bohn said a large amount of cattle escaped from an adjacent pasture and gathered on both eastbound and westbound lanes of I-94 under the Exit 190 overpass.

In the dark of night, he said, the black cattle were difficult to see.

A semi and a passenger vehicle, both eastbound, separately struck cattle, as did a westbound passenger vehicle.

There were minor injuries to the people involved, and 25 cattle were killed.

“It was a big mess,” Bohn said, adding that the state Department of Transportation deployed multiple snowplows and a street sweeper to clear and clean both lanes of the interstate.

The semi, driven by 57-year-old Ewert Nel of Edmore, hit the cattle first, went into the median and overturned.

A small fire started on the truck but was put out right away with fire extinguishers. Nel was wearing a seat belt and was not injured, the patrol said.

Soon after, a westbound Ford Fusion driven by Dina Diamanti, 41, of Bigelow, Minnesota, struck livestock in the roadway.

Also in the vehicle were passengers Anderson Casteava, 20, of Bigelow, a 13-year-old female and a 16-year-old male.

Everyone in the vehicle was wearing a seat belt and was checked for possible minor injuries, Bohn said.

The third vehicle to hit the cattle was an eastbound Ford Escape driven by Kaycee Anderson, 26, of Napoleon, North Dakota.

She also was wearing a seat belt and suffered minor cuts and bruises, the patrol said.

The cattle were owned by Gerald Schmidt, 60, of Bismarck.

During the response and cleanup, traffic was routed onto exit ramps and back down to the interstate, bypassing the overpass.

The westbound lanes of I-94 at Exit 190 reopened at approximately 5:05 a.m., while the eastbound lanes opened about an hour later, the patrol said.