Kota Expressway Accident: Eight Pilgrims Killed as Mini-Bus Falls Into Drain Near Simliya; Cause Under Investigation

What happened

Early on Saturday, 17 October 2026, a mini-bus full of pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh left the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway and fell into a water-filled drain near Karadiya, in the Simliya police station area of Kota district, Rajasthan. Most reports put the time at about 6 a.m.; ETV Bharat said about 7 a.m. The group was on its way to the Khatu Shyam ji temple in Sikar district. Gyan Wani, a Betul news site, reported that they had set out from Betul on Friday night.

ETV Bharat, quoting police, said the vehicle had just crossed the Karadiya toll plaza and was heading towards Sultanpur when the driver seemed to fall asleep and lost control. It fell from a culvert into a rainwater channel about 20 feet below, according to ETV Bharat and News24; India TV and People’s Update put the drop at about 15 feet. The front of the vehicle was crushed and people in the front seats were hurt the worst. Several passengers were trapped between the seats.

Reports describe the vehicle as a mini-bus or a tempo traveller with a Madhya Pradesh number plate. About 25 people were on board, according to India TV, Amar Ujala, News24 and People’s Update; Times Now Navbharat said 23. One early report, by India.com, said the bus was going from Delhi to Mumbai. Every other report we read says it was carrying pilgrims from Madhya Pradesh towards Khatu Shyam ji, so we have used that. No chainage or kilometre marker has been published.

The people

Eight people died. Kota District Collector Peeyush Samariya told ANI that “eight people have been brought dead so far”, and Patrika reported that police and the hospital had confirmed eight deaths, the driver among them. Earlier the same morning, the Simliya police station in-charge, Nand Singh, had confirmed four deaths; Amar Ujala and TNP News reported six, and PTI, quoting the principal of Kota Medical College, Dr Nilesh Jain, reported seven. The count may still change.

Police said the dead were from Madhya Pradesh. TNP News quoted police as saying six of them were from Betul district; other reports name Bhopal and Betul. Patrika and TNP News printed some first names of the dead and injured, but no full official list had been released when we checked, so we are not publishing names.

Reports of the injured vary widely, from more than six (ANI, quoting the police) and more than a dozen (ETV Bharat) to 15 or 16 (India TV) and at least 17 (PTI, quoting Dr Jain). The injured were taken to MBS Hospital and the New Medical College Hospital in Kota. The Collector said all critical patients had been moved to the ICU.

Response and investigation

Villagers and passing drivers were first at the drain. Patrika reported that locals alerted the toll plaza and the police and broke windows to pull people out. Simliya police, an NHAI rescue team and ambulances followed. Water, mud and the dark slowed the rescue, and a crane was brought in to lift the vehicle out. Kota Rural SP Sujit Shankar went to the spot, and the Collector went to MBS Hospital.

The cause has not been officially established. According to India TV, Kota Rural Additional SP Ram Kalyan Meena said the driver suddenly dozed off. ETV Bharat reported that the vehicle was going fast and hit the divider before it went over. Patrika reported that police were also checking whether a stray animal on the road played a part. These are early police statements and reports, not findings of an inquiry.

Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot posted his condolences on X. When we checked on the morning of 17 October 2026, we found no announcement of ex gratia and no published FIR details. Madhya Pradesh announced aid later that day; see the update at the end of this page.

Why this matters

Pilgrim trips by hired mini-bus usually run through the night so the group can reach the temple by morning. That puts the driver at the wheel in the hours before dawn, when the body most wants to sleep. On a straight, fast expressway, a few seconds of sleep is enough to drift across a lane and over the edge. Drains, culverts and embankments along the road leave very little room to recover.

NCRB’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024 counted 1,250 road deaths that police put down to driver fatigue, 2,553 to animals crossing the road and 1,01,649 to over-speeding. Fatigue is very likely under-recorded, because a driver who dozed off often cannot say so, or does not survive.

Lessons for pilgrims, operators and drivers

• Do not let one driver drive all night. For an overnight trip, hire two drivers or plan a proper sleep break. The organiser should ask about this before paying.
• Stop before the early-morning hours. If you must travel at night, plan a rest of at least 20 to 30 minutes after midnight and again before dawn, at a fuel station or rest area, not on the shoulder.
• Keep one passenger awake in the front. Someone sitting next to the driver should talk to them and ask them to pull over the moment they yawn repeatedly, drift in the lane or miss a turn.
• Wear the seat belt. Most mini-buses and travellers have belts on every seat. Use them, including in the back. They keep you in your seat when a vehicle rolls.
• Know the way out. Before you set off, find the emergency exit, the hammer if there is one, and which windows open.

If your vehicle goes into water

• Undo your belt, help the person next to you, and get out through a door, window or the emergency exit as fast as you can, before water rises inside.
• If a window will not open, break the corner of the side glass with a hard object; windscreens do not break easily.
• Once out, move to the bank and away from the road. Do not stand on the carriageway.
• Call 112, or 108 for an ambulance. Give the expressway name, the direction of travel and the nearest toll plaza.
• Do not drag out someone who cannot move unless water or another danger is about to reach them; you could make a neck or spine injury worse.

What is still not known

The official list of names, the exact number of injured, the exact spot and chainage, the official cause, whether the driver had rested and the FIR sections have not been published in any report we could find up to 19 October 2026. We will update this page when official details appear.

More on Kota: see our Kota fire and emergency safety guide for emergency numbers and the local risks to know.

Update, 19 October 2026

The toll is still eight. A PTI-Bhasha report late on 17 October, quoting New Medical College Hospital, said eight people were brought dead and confirmed that the driver was among them. Seven of the dead were from Betul district. Their bodies reached their villages on Sunday, 18 October, and the funerals were held the same day, UNI Varta and Aaj Tak reported. PTI-Bhasha printed the names of the dead, but we have not seen an official list from the police or the district, so we are still not publishing them.

The injured figures still vary. IANS, quoting police, said 15 were hurt, eight of them critically. The PTI-Bhasha report said 16, including two girls, and that officials described them as out of danger. The same report quoted Dr Ashutosh Sharma, superintendent of the super-speciality block of New Medical College Hospital, and Dr Nilesh Jain, principal of Kota Medical College, as saying that eight people were brought dead and 16 injured people were admitted for treatment. That is lower than the “at least 17” PTI had attributed to Dr Jain earlier on 17 October. No official final count has been published, so we count 16 as the latest official figure and keep the other numbers above with their sources.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced Rs 4 lakh for the family of each person who died, IANS reported on the afternoon of 17 October. He said officials had been told to make sure the families got the money and every possible support. We found no report yet of the money being paid, and no separate ex gratia from the Rajasthan government or from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund up to 19 October 2026.

Lok Sabha Speaker and Kota-Bundi MP Om Birla met the injured at New Medical College Hospital on 17 October. PTI quoted him as saying a detailed investigation was under way, and that the local administration, the transport department and the police would work together to find and fix accident-prone spots on the expressway, with a review meeting planned for November. No FIR details or official cause had been published by 19 October 2026 (the update below has the latest).

Update, 22 October 2026

Updated 23 October 2026, about 10.00 am IST. The toll is still eight, and we found no new report on the cause or on an FIR. The new item is on the injured at AIIMS Bhopal: two were discharged on 20 October and two more were due on 21 October, according to the Madhya Pradesh BJP president.

On Wednesday, 21 October, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav went to AIIMS Bhopal and met 14 patients from Betul district who were hurt in the Kota crash and had been admitted there on his instructions (ABP News, Asianet News Hindi, Dainik Bhaskar). He told the hospital to leave no gap in their treatment and said the state government stands with the families. Dainik Bhaskar’s Betul edition had reported on 19 October that 11 injured passengers from Madhya Pradesh were admitted at AIIMS Bhopal, with the state BJP president arranging the move and the Betul chief medical and health officer travelling to Bhopal to admit them on the Collector’s instruction; it put the dead at eight and the injured at 17. So the transfer happened by 19 October, and the number at AIIMS rose from 11 to 14 by the Chief Minister’s visit. On 21 October the Madhya Pradesh BJP president, Hemant Khandelwal, wrote on X that 14 residents of five villages in the Multai area of Betul district were under treatment at AIIMS Bhopal after the Kota crash, that two had been discharged on Tuesday 20 October and that two more were due to go home on 21 October (The News Mill, Daily Prabhat). The reports do not say whether the 14 include those already discharged, or how the other patients are doing. The same visit covered two patients from a separate road accident in Gwalior.

ABP News recalls the Rs 4 lakh aid for the family of each person who died, announced on 17 October. We found no report of the money being paid, and no ex gratia from the Rajasthan government or the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. We also found no FIR details, no official cause and no published list of the dead up to 23 October 2026, so the earlier caveats stand.