Slippery road conditions following an early morning snowstorm caused a snarl-up on the Carbon Hill on Highway 575.
At about 6:30 a.m., Friday, January 13, a cattleliner from the Wintering Hills Hutterite Colony was taking a load of 171 pigs to market in Red Deer. While climbing the hill, the driver realized he had lost traction and would not be able to continue. The driver parked the truck on the shoulder, and after an hour, the livestock shifted the weight of the trailer causing the truck and trailer to roll into the ditch.
The Drumheller Fire Department and RCMP were dispatched and members of the colony came to evacuate the animals using another cattle liner, and trucks with stock trailers.
While they were in the process of removing the cattle, a truck carrying a farming implement jack-knifed descending the hill blocking traffic even longer. A truck with a stock trailer owned by the colony was climbing the hill to aid in the evacuation. When the driver realized the road was blocked, he was forced to back down the hill.
There were no injuries to the driver nor his passenger, however several of the pigs died in the mishap.
Heavy duty tow trucks were called in from Calgary to right the cattleliner once the animals were removed.
