INDIANAPOLIS, In. — Crews with the Wayne Township Fire Department released a video Friday of the crash scene on Interstate 74, where more than 2,000 piglets spilled onto the highway after a semi overturned.
Officials said 700 pigs of the 2,058 being transported were killed in the crash that occurred on the ramp from northbound I-465 to I-74 westbound around 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
WXIN reports that crews spent more than three hours gathering the surviving pigs. Capt. Mike Pruitt with the Wayne Township Fire Department reported the recovery was very labor intensive.
The pigs were being transported from a North Carolina farm to a farm in Iowa. This hauler is said to be a normal mode of transportation for the swine, and the large number of piglets was not unusual for this type of farm-to-farm transportation, according to the fire department.
The pigs were taken to the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
It is unclear what caused the semi to overturn.
