Photo: UDOT Traffic Cameras showed heavy backup along I-15 SB near 2300 North in Sunset.
SUNSET, Utah — Traffic came to a standstill Friday afternoon on the freeway in Sunset, when an estimated 8 – 10 pigs fell out of a trailer and onto the southbound lanes of traffic.
Utah Highway Patrol Corporal Andy Battenfield said two or three of the pigs perished in the fall near 2300 North on I-15 in Sunset. A vehicle struck another pig, damaging the vehicle and killing that pig.
Most of the remaining pigs were rescued without incident. Battenfield said at least one pig remains at large. They know where it is; troopers say it is not currently in danger and they hope to wear it out and wrangle it.
Battenfield believes a gate on the trailer may have come open without the driver noticing.
“The truck and trailer, we’re not sure where they are,” Battenfield said. “They kept going. I’m sure they’ll discover that they’re missing their cargo at some point and give us a call.”
Crews stopped traffic while rounding up the surviving pigs, but reopened all freeway lanes shortly afterward.