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UPDATE: Eighteen-wheeler turnover on Ramsey Mountain Wednesday spills 30,000 lbs. of frozen chicken

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Nothing new. An 18-wheeler with cargo on board turns over on its side on Ramsey Mountain, just south of Batesville.

That was the story yesterday, a little after 4 p.m. The truck was traveling south on Highway 167, heading up Ramsey Mountain.

Independence County Sheriff Shawn Stephens said it appeared to him the truck and trailer skid about 30 feet before coming to a stop, noting the cab apparently hit quite hard, causing damage to it.

The driver and a passenger suffered what appeared to be minor injuries and were transported to the White River Medical Center to be checked, according to the sheriff.

Stephens told White River Now the 18-wheeler, based out of Pennsylvania, was hauling frozen chicken, and boxes of the chicken spilled out of the trailer and onto the highway.

The sheriff estimated at least 30,000 pounds of the cargo ended up in the Ash Flat landfill.

Computer information showed the company has also experienced a jack-knife turnover in its past, according to Stephens.

Heavy equipment was brought in to help to bring the tractor-trailer upright so it could be moved from the site, the sheriff noted. A Highway Department spokesman said that heavy equipment was also used to help clean the highway and put the chicken into two big dumpsters brought in to haul the cargo to the landfill.

Stephens said between 8:45 and 9 p.m., two-lane traffic returned to going both ways. The sheriff did note that one-lane traffic, going both north and south, was maintained from the 4 p.m. hour until the truck was removed from the turnover site.

The process to upright the 18-wheeler was slowed by about an hour to allow a Highway Police Officer to come from Heber Springs to the site to investigate the incident and ensure the truck and driver met the rules and regulations of transporting cargo on Arkansas state highways.

Tractor TrailerImage via Batesville Fire Department Facebook

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