HAYWARD — A woman was injured this morning when the automobile she was driving hit a cow that had escaped from an overturned cattle truck.

An eastbound cattle truck rolled this morning onto its side and into the median of Interstate 90, east of the Interstate 35 exchange. The crash occurred near the Hayward Rest Area before sunrise.

The woman was transported away from the crash by an ambulance. Her car remained in the north ditch and appeared as though it had been traveling westward. However, an official Minnesota State Patrol report is pending.

The sound of cattle lowing could be heard. Some were still in the trailer; others were in the south ditch being herded by firefighters. Diesel was leaking.

Fog was causing limited visibility in that area and the sun had not risen.

Albert Lea police officers and Freeborn County sheriff’s deputies assisted Minnesota state troopers. Albert Lea and Albert Lea Township firefighters were there, too.

The State Patrol set up “Accident Ahead” signs to warn drivers of the crash so they didn’t have more collisions. Traffic slowed to a halt at times. Otherwise it remained slower than 40 mph, often in the neighborhood of 25 mph.

Much of southern Minnesota and Wisconsin were in a dense fog advisory this morning; the fog was expected to taper off by noon.