A chilling dashcam video has surfaced showing the exact, devastating moment a speeding passenger minibus veered across the center line and slammed head-on into an oncoming container truck near Kaziranga National Park in Assam’s Golaghat district. The catastrophic road tragedy, which occurred on Friday afternoon near Rongajan adjacent to the Hatikuli Tea Estate along National Highway 715, has claimed the lives of at least 26 people and left 20 others severely injured. As emergency responders, district authorities, and local residents from Bokakhat, Kohora, Nagaon, Jorhat, and Guwahati rushed to pull trapped victims from the mangled wreckage, official transport records revealed a troubling history: the ill-fated Traveller minibus was a habitual traffic offender with more than 10 prior overspeeding challans.

What the Viral Dashcam Footage Reveals About the Kaziranga Crash

In the haunting two-second clip captured from the dashboard camera of the heavy goods carrier, the white Traveller minibus—travelling from Bokakhat toward Nagaon with over 35 passengers aboard—can be seen hurtling along the highway at high speed before suddenly losing balance. Within fractions of a second, the vehicle swerves sharply out of its lane directly into the path of the container truck headed toward Upper Assam.

A blinding flash erupts across the frame at the exact point of impact, followed by the violent crunch of metal as the massive container truck skids off the carriageway. Eyewitnesses and photographs from the crash site in the Kohora range depict a harrowing scene: the front half of the minibus was completely pulverized and reduced to twisted steel, trapping dozens of passengers inside the cabin.

Most Victims Were College Students Returning Home

Local residents from nearby tea gardens and villages were the first to reach the spot on NH-715, working alongside Golaghat police and ambulance teams to pry open the crushed frame of the Traveller. According to senior doctors at Kohora Model Hospital, where victims were initially rushed, the death toll climbed steadily to 26 as critically injured passengers succumbed to trauma. Critically wounded survivors were subsequently referred for advanced emergency care to hospitals in Bokakhat, Golaghat, and the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH).

District officials confirmed that the majority of those traveling inside the packed minibus were young people, including college students returning home, alongside several women, elderly commuters, and children. Postmortem examinations of the deceased were arranged at Swahid Kushal Konwar Civil Hospital in Golaghat.

Habitual Offender: Minibus Had Over 10 Traffic Challans

As Golaghat District Transport Office and police officials initiated a formal inquiry into the collision, scrutiny of the vehicle’s registration records uncovered repeated violations of highway safety norms. According to official database entries, the commercial Traveller minibus—registered in Nagaon—had accumulated more than 10 traffic challans (12 recorded penalties) prior to Friday’s crash, overwhelmingly for overspeeding.

Of the total penalties levied against the vehicle, ₹38,500 had been settled, while an additional ₹4,000 fine remained unpaid. Notably, records showed the vehicle had previously been flagged in Jorhat for clocking speeds exceeding 100 kmph and had been penalized multiple times along the sensitive Kaziranga wildlife corridor, where strict speed caps are enforced to protect both commuters and animals.

PM Modi and CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Express Grief, Announce Relief

Assam Panchayat and Rural Development Minister and local Bokakhat MLA Atul Bora, who arrived at the accident site to supervise rescue and medical relief operations, stated that preliminary findings indicate the minibus was moving at an excessively high speed in direct violation of traffic restrictions enforced near Kaziranga National Park. Describing the crash as one of the worst road tragedies in the region, he confirmed that a comprehensive magisterial and transport probe will examine overloading and speed violations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives in Golaghat district and announced an ex-gratia relief of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each deceased victim, along with ₹50,000 for each injured survivor. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also conveyed heartfelt condolences to the grieving families, noting that Education Minister Ranoj Pegu and Minister Atul Bora were coordinating ground relief while he scheduled a personal visit to Golaghat to review medical care and highway enforcement.