Several dead animals after accident: Pigs escape from overturned animal transporter on A2

The A2 motorway between Hamm and Hamm-Uentrop is closed for hours because an animal transporter crashes. The driver is slightly injured and several of the pigs on board die. Others find a way out and run away.

A truck loaded with 162 live pigs overturned on the A2 motorway near Hamm in North Rhine-Westphalia. Around 30 animals then escaped from the vehicle and ran into a nearby forest, police said. Some animals did not survive the accident and died. A local farmer came to the rescue team's aid and caught most of the pigs. However, some are still free and could run back onto the motorway at any time, a police spokesman said.

The A2 remained completely closed between Hamm and Hamm-Uentrop for hours. There were long traffic jams in both directions. It is unclear when the busy stretch of road will be reopened to traffic. Firstly, the animals have to be caught. Secondly, the police have to organize another animal transport truck to drive the pigs off the motorway. In addition to the police, the fire brigade and veterinary office were also on duty.

According to the police, the driver of the animal transporter was slightly injured. It is still unclear how exactly the accident happened. According to initial findings, the truck driver had driven into a guardrail in the direction of Oberhausen without any external influence. The animal transport then fell onto its side. According to the police, the motorway was initially only closed in the direction of travel, but a short time later it was completely closed.

The operation was made more difficult because the rescue workers initially had difficulty getting to the scene of the accident, said the police spokesman. The police appealed to all drivers in the traffic jam to form an emergency lane. Some truck drivers even tried to turn around at the end of the traffic jam. "We are preventing that," the police wrote on X.