Family burned to death after runaway milk truck crushes cars at Casablanca toll booth in Colombia.
NEWS:
A family from Santander was burned to death after a runaway milk truck slammed into vehicles waiting at the Casablanca toll booth on the Zipaquirá-Ubaté road in Colombia.
The crash happened early on April 1, 2026, at the Casablanca toll booth in Cundinamarca, north of Bogotá. Official transportation authorities reported that 11 vehicles were involved, including a tractor-trailer, seven cars, two motorcycles, a microbus and toll booth infrastructure. The official balance listed five people dead, including a child, and 18 injured. Other regional updates and news reports placed the number of injured at 21.
Video from the scene shows a truck coming into the toll area at speed and plowing into vehicles stopped near the payment lanes. The impact triggers a violent crash and fire. Several vehicles can be seen burning or destroyed after the collision. The footage directly shows the truck striking the toll booth area and the immediate aftermath of the pileup, but it does not independently establish the mechanical cause of the crash.
The five people killed were identified in local reporting as Rosalba Garcés Ríos, Amanda Pereira Garcés, Adelaida Pereira Garcés, Fredy León and Juan Pablo León. They were members of the same family from Suaita, in Santander. They had reportedly left Bogotá early that morning and were traveling toward Vado Real, a corregimiento of Suaita. Their dog was also with them.
The family was inside a car that had stopped in the toll line when the tractor-trailer hit the vehicles ahead. According to the reporting available from the scene, the truck was carrying milk and had apparently reached the toll area without brakes. That point remains framed as an investigative hypothesis unless confirmed through the final technical findings.
Authorities and emergency responders reported that the crash caused an explosion and a fire involving several vehicles. The family’s car was crushed and burned after the impact. The available reporting states that the victims died inside the vehicle. The condition of the bodies and the destruction at the scene required forensic confirmation before all identities were publicly reported.
The crash happened at about 00:5:30 a.m., when multiple vehicles were lined up at the toll booth. The tractor-trailer struck the waiting traffic with enough force to destroy several vehicles and damage the toll infrastructure. Images and videos from the area show burned cars, debris across the lanes and emergency crews working around the wreckage.
Early official information described the truck as a vehicle transporting milk that allegedly arrived at the toll without brakes and collided with several private vehicles and a motorcycle. Later reporting said investigators were reviewing whether the crash was caused by brake system failure, overheating in the braking system or a driving maneuver that caused the driver to lose control before reaching the toll area.
The driver of the tractor-trailer survived and was among the injured. He was identified in reports as Adolfo Pacheco and was described as having suffered severe head trauma. He was transferred to intensive care at a hospital in Bogotá. Because he survived, investigators were expected to take his statement as part of the inquiry into what happened before the truck entered the toll booth area.
Authorities also said the driver’s documents were in order. Reports citing officials said he had a valid driver’s license for that type of articulated vehicle, as well as mandatory traffic insurance and a current technical-mechanical inspection for the truck. That does not determine the cause of the crash, but it addresses one of the first questions raised after the fatal pileup.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Zipaquirá, Cajicá, Ubaté and Bogotá. Lists released after the crash identified patients treated at the Hospital Regional de Zipaquirá, Hospital Funcional de Zipaquirá, Hospital San Luis de Cajicá, Hospital Cavalier de Cajicá and Hospital El Salvador de Ubaté. Some victims were listed with confirmed names, while others were still pending identification in the first reports.
The difference between the official injury count and some later reporting remains relevant. The national transportation authority’s statement listed 18 injured. Regional and media updates later listed 21 injured. The confirmed death toll remained five in the later reports reviewed.
The crash forced the closure of the Ubaté-Zipaquirá corridor while emergency crews removed the wreckage, treated victims and inspected the damaged toll area. Firefighters, police, medical teams and road authorities responded to the scene. The road was later managed through controlled reopening procedures after the most urgent rescue and recovery work was completed.
The central facts are not in dispute: a milk truck entered the Casablanca toll area at speed, hit vehicles that were stopped or waiting near the toll lanes, caused a multi-vehicle crash and fire, and killed five members of the same Santander family. The unresolved part is the final technical cause of the truck’s loss of control and whether mechanical failure, braking misuse, road conditions or driver action played the decisive role.
News story written by Tifa Winters.
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