Kaziranga Minibus-Truck Crash, Rongajan, Golaghat, Assam: A Traveller Minibus Carrying About 40 People, Many of Them Students, Hits a Container Truck Head-On on NH-715 Near Hathikuli Tea Estate, 26 Dead and About 15 Hurt, While Reports Differ on the Toll, the Route and the Cause

What happened

The Kaziranga road accident happened on the afternoon of Friday 13 November 2026 at Rongajan near Hathikuli Tea Estate, in the Kohora range on National Highway 715 (NH-715) in Golaghat district, Assam. A Traveller minibus carrying about 40 people, many of them college students, collided head-on with a container truck. The Times of India, The New Indian Express and The Week, quoting PTI, put the toll at 26, with about 15 hurt. Earlier counts were 12, 16, 23 and 24, and the figures differ by outlet and hour.

Golaghat police say the minibus was running at very high speed, in breach of the restrictions on this stretch near Kaziranga National Park, and that its driver lost control. Two survivors told Hindustan Times on Friday night that the minibus was overloaded and running at close to 100 km/h when it crossed into the wrong lane; the truck driver says the minibus came into his lane. A dashcam clip said to come from the truck is being shared. The district administration has ordered an inquiry into the cause, including whether either vehicle broke the rules on passengers and speed. The Prime Minister announced Rs 2 lakh for the family of each person who died and Rs 50,000 for each injured person.

This page names no one. It sets out what is reported, where the reports differ and what the crash teaches about passenger minibuses on highways with speed limits.

What the reports say

• When: The afternoon of Friday 13 November 2026, at around 1 pm according to The Hindu (The Times of India: afternoon)
• Where: Rongajan, near Hathikuli Tea Estate, Kohora range, National Highway 715, Golaghat district, Assam, about 230 km east of Guwahati (The Hindu; The New Indian Express)
• Vehicles: A Traveller minibus, about ten years old with a seating capacity of 26 (Free Press Journal), and a container truck going from Tezpur to Dibrugarh by its driver’s account (The New Indian Express; The Hindu)
• What happened: The two vehicles collided head-on. The front of the minibus was reduced to mangled metal and the container truck skidded off the road (The Week; India Today)
• People on board: About 40, including the driver and a handyman; many were college students returning from classes, with some women, children and elderly people (The Times of India; The New Indian Express; The Week)
• Deaths: 26 by Friday night (The Times of India; The New Indian Express; The Week); earlier reports gave 12, 16, 23 and 24. The minibus driver and handyman were among the dead; a 12-year-old boy is among the identified (The Week; Pratidin Time)
• Injured: About 15, of whom at least ten were reported critical (Free Press Journal; The Hindu); other reports say 7, 11 or 20
• Suspected cause: Police: very high speed on a restricted stretch, the minibus driver lost control and hit the truck (India Today NE; ABP Live; The New Indian Express). A purported dashcam clip from the truck shows the minibus jumping its lane at speed (The New Indian Express)
• The minibus record: The Golaghat SSP said it had 12 earlier challans (Rs 38,500, paid) and one unpaid fine of Rs 4,000 for exceeding the speed limit; a transport office official said it was fined on 3 March in Jorhat for 102 km/h (India Today NE; The Week)
• Response: Local people and police pulled the injured out; most went first to Kohora Model Hospital, then to Bokakhat and Golaghat civil hospitals and Jorhat Medical College and Hospital; the district administration ordered an inquiry; the Prime Minister announced Rs 2 lakh and Rs 50,000 (The Times of India; The New Indian Express)
• Survivors say: Two survivors said the minibus carried far more than its seats allowed, one putting it at 60 or more with about half standing, and was near 100 km/h before it crossed into the wrong lane; the truck driver, who was hurt, says he was on his own side (Hindustan Times, 13 November). These are accounts, not findings.
• Survivor: A two-and-a-half-year-old child was passed out through the shattered rear windscreen and is under treatment (Free Press Journal; Pratidin Time)
• Identities: Reports name the dead and officials; we name no one who died, was hurt or holds an office, and we do not print vehicle numbers

Where reports differ and what we do not know

• The toll: The first reports said 12, then 16 (Pratidin Time), 23 (the SSP, ABP Live and India Today NE), 24 (the chief minister, The Hindu, BBC) and 26 (a doctor at Kohora Model Hospital, The New Indian Express; The Times of India; The Week). We say 26 and show the steps.
• The injured: Seven (NDTV, Times of India early), 11 (ThePrint, News9), about 15 (The Hindu, Free Press Journal, Deccan Herald) and 20 (New Indian Express, Business Standard) all appear. We say about 15.
• The route: The Hindu and The New Indian Express say Golaghat to Nagaon, PTI via The Week says Jorhat to Nagaon, BBC and The Lallantop say Bokakhat to Nagaon, and The Times of India says Jorhat towards Guwahati. All place the minibus heading towards Nagaon or Guwahati and the truck heading towards Upper Assam.
• People on board: The Hindu says 39 including the driver; Pratidin Time and ABP Live say more than 35; Free Press Journal says more than 40; The Times of India says around 40; a senior official quoted by The New Indian Express says around 45; the SSP said the exact number was not known; a survivor told Hindustan Times at least 60. We say about 40 and note the survivor account.
• The college: The Assam Tribune says some of the dead were students of Kaziranga College; Pratidin Time says students of Kaziranga High School. We say college students, as the chief minister and The Hindu do.
• The truck: It is called a container truck by most reports, a trailer truck by ABP Live and The Times of India, and a goods carrier in the dashcam report. We say a container truck.
• Post-mortems: An Additional District Commissioner said they would be done at Golaghat civil hospital during the night with special lighting (The New Indian Express); the chief minister’s instruction, relayed by a minister, was to do them in daylight on Saturday (Pratidin Time). We do not say which was done.
• The cause: Police say the minibus driver lost control at very high speed. A state minister said local people pointed to speed and that the impact suggested it. The inquiry will also check passenger capacity. No finding has been published, so we do not state a cause.

What this crash teaches

A minibus that holds 26 people and carries about 40 is heavy, slow to brake and fragile, because passengers sit close to the front and there are few barriers between them and a truck. The reports say the minibus was at very high speed, on a stretch where speed is limited for animals along a 60 km road beside the national park. They say it had paid or pending fines for speeding, and the police suspect the driver lost control. The district administration has ordered an inquiry. A state minister said minibus operators compete with each other on this road. These are views and early police statements, not findings.

We have covered similar crashes, among them the Sonapur bus and truck collision near Guwahati, the Latehar overloaded bus overturn, the Ganderbal Tempo Traveller gorge crash and the Mtito Andei bus and truck crash in Kenya. Our guide to safety in buses, trains and metros sets out what NCRB data shows about road travel. For drivers and operators, our guide to over-speeding and drunk driving deaths gives the national trend. For travel in shared vehicles, our guide to night travel in shared tempos and hill highways lists what to check. For bystanders, our guide to road accident first aid covers what to do before the ambulance arrives.

We do not know the speed of the minibus, whether it was overloaded beyond its seats (survivors say it was) or why its driver lost control. The inquiry will say. We will update this page when a finding or a corrected toll is published.