A man towing a B-double loaded with cattle has died in a crash in country NSW. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard
A man towing a B-double loaded with cattle has died in a crash in country NSW. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

A man in his 20s and dozens of cattle have died in a three-vehicle crash in country NSW.

The crash happened east of Tamworth on Wednesday morning, and police investigators will try to piece together what caused the ute and two B-double trucks to crash.

The crash happened on a sealed arterial road off the main highway in the area of Walcha, about 90km east of Tamworth, about 10am on Wednesday.

When police and emergency services arrived, they found a ute had been involved in a crash with one B-double loaded with cattle and another unloaded B-double.

A 22-year-old man driving the cattle truck died at the scene, a police spokesperson said.

The 53-year-old man driving the second truck was taken to hospital with serious head injuries and for mandatory testing. The 63-year-old ute driver suffered minor injuries, and he too was subject to mandatory testing.

About 35 cattle died in the crash, some having to be euthanised because of their injuries, the spokesperson said.

Police want anyone with dashcam or phone footage, or information about the crash, to come forward.