Five people died and 21 were injured on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, when a milk truck with failed brakes slammed into a line of vehicles waiting at the Casablanca toll booth in Colombia, about 50 km from Bogota. The crash happened the day before Holy Week travel began, with tens of thousands of tourists expected to leave the capital.
The booth sits on the road between the municipalities of Zipaquira and Ubate, in the department of Cundinamarca. According to Clarin, working from EFE reporting, the truck hit a total of 12 vehicles and motorcycles queued for their turn to pay. Colombia’s Transport Ministry gave a slightly different count in a statement: eleven vehicles, made up of the tractor-trailer, seven cars, two motorcycles, a minibus and the toll infrastructure itself. It put the injured at 18.
Fire and explosions
The impact set several vehicles alight. Early reports described explosions as cars burned. Clarin’s account said the milk truck ended up on its side, burning, with twisted metal around it. At least one motorcycle, a pickup and two private cars exploded and caught fire. Photos posted on X by Governor Jorge Emilio Rey showed vehicles burned out completely, debris strewn across the road and emergency crews at work.
Eleven ambulances, along with firefighters and police officers, rushed to the scene, a news report said. In the first hours the toll stood at two dead and 19 injured, with the governor saying those hurt were in nearby hospitals.
The toll climbs
It did not stay there. Rey wrote on X that two more victims, one a minor, had died, bringing the number to four. Later he said rescuers had found a fifth body inside a car carrying a family. Three bodies had already been recovered from that vehicle, including the child, along with a pet that had also died. The fifth victim was a motorcyclist.
The latest official count in Clarin’s report put the injured at 19 adults and two minors. One of the minors was in critical condition and was taken to a hospital in Bogota.
Road reopened in part
Authorities opened the route again only partly while crews carried on with rescue work and the removal of wrecked vehicles. Drivers were told to take other roads.
The Transport Ministry used its statement to appeal to road users: slow down, keep your distance, check your vehicle, and drive with full attention. These, it said, “are actions that save lives.”
Sources
- Tragic Toll Booth Inferno: Colombia's Highway Horror (Devdiscourse, with inputs from agencies)
- Brutal accidente en Colombia: un camion lechero se quedo sin frenos, choco a 12 autos en un peaje y hay cinco muertos (Clarin, con informacion de EFE)
- Ya son cinco los muertos por aparatoso accidente en un peaje de Cundinamarca (Boyaca 7 Dias, EFE; same EFE wire as S2)
