The Wargeila Road was closed for part of the afternoon on Australia Day following an accident when a semitrailer failed to take a corner, crashed through a fence and landed on its side in a paddock.

The driver of the truck, which was carrying around 520 sheep, was taken into Yass hospital. Many of the sheep were killed, while some injured sheep were put down by Scott Schlunke from the Tablelands Livestock Health and Pest Authority. An estimated 200 sheep died.

The accident was attended by the police, who closed the road, the Yass Fire Brigade, local Rural Fire Service and the LHPA. Yass Valley Council was also in attendance, with trucks receiving from a front end loader the dead sheep for removal.

According to police the single vehicle accident was caused by the driver travelling too fast for the conditions, as the truck came into the corner doing 65 to 70km/h, too fast for that corner and the size and load of the truck.

Police said they were very impressed by the response from the community. They received news of the accident around 1.45pm on Tuesday, and when they arrived on the scene the tow truck, fire brigade and LHPA ranger were already there, with the Council also arriving promptly. Police praised the Yass Valley Council for the great job they did, providing articulated trucks and clearing sheep and debris quickly. They were also impressed by the actions of the landholder, whose paddock the truck tipped into, and the truck owner, both of whom did much of the work to provide for the surviving sheep.

Source: Yass Tribune