Around noon on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, a vehicle fire broke out inside the La Línea tunnel, which forced the total closure of the road in the Calarcá–Cajamarca direction, between the departments of Quindío and Tolima (central Colombia).
According to reports from traffic authorities and emergency organizations cited by local media Echoes of Combeima and El Olfacto, The incident occurred when a vehicle, presumably carrying a heavy load, caught fire within one of the most strategic infrastructures in Colombia.
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This has caused congestion and the implementation of alternative routes for users who need to travel through this key corridor between the center and the west of the country.
The blockade, which affects a critical point of the national road infrastructure, It remains in force until further notice, while specialized units work to extinguish the fire and evaluate possible damage to the interior of the tunnel.said the emergency teams consulted by both media.
So far, there are no reports of injuries, although mobility remains restricted. and authorities ask drivers to avoid the area until safe conditions are reestablished.
Operational personnel and relief agencies remain on site attending to the emergency and monitoring any structural damage caused by the conflagration.
Road users have been urged to pay attention to official reports and follow the instructions of traffic and emergency authorities, while awaiting the official announcement on the causes of the fire and the estimated time for the reopening of the road.
Five dead and 19 injured left an accident in Cundinamarca
This was not the only road report registered in Colombia, in the midst of the Exodus Plan that is being carried out in the country on behalf of Holy Week.
On the morning of Wednesday, April 1, 2026, A multiple crash was recorded at the Casablanca tollbooth on the Zipaquirá–Ubaté road, in the municipality of Cogua, department of Cundinamarca, which left five dead and 19 injured.
The accident, caused by the impact and subsequent explosion of a tractor-trailer that dragged at least eight vehicles with it, caused the total closure of the national highway for several hours and exposed the structural difficulties of this road corridor.
Later images show the consequences of the multiple crash that triggered the emergency on the road to Ubaté – credit supplied to Infobae
The accident occurred at 6:22 a.m. and generated scenes of chaos, since the violence of the fire prevented quick access for rescue teams and complicated the rescue of those involved.
Hollman Osma, a witness to the incident, told Caracol News the difficulties experienced during the accident: “I saw when the tractor-trailer arrived, passed the toll, overturned and the explosion occurred.”
In turn, the citizen described how the fire spread in a matter of seconds: “We managed to help get some families out, well, what could be done because the cars caught fire at once… “There was the impact and the vehicles caught fire.”
Likewise, Osma highlighted that access to the place was almost impossible due to the number of vehicles affected, which hindered the arrival of the 11 ambulances deployed in the emergency. According to his testimony, “the toll was destroyed in the center lane. There are people crying, the guard crying because he was saved. The situation is regrettable.”
Drivers and witnesses joined together to rescue and assist the injured minutes after the multiple crash – credit supplied to Infobae Colombia
The magnitude of the tragedy led to several victims being found “unrecognizable on the floor.” The witness to the incident urged the relatives of people who were traveling through the Zipaquirá, Ubaté, Chiquinquirá, Barbosa and Puente Nacional corridors to find out the whereabouts of their loved ones, given the magnitude of the incident.
During Holy Week in 2026, nearly 3.7 million vehicles will travel on the roads of the Cundinamarca regionaccording to projections from local authorities cited by The Time.
This high mobility coincides with an increase in surveillance and control devices deployed by the National Police, the Army, firefighters and risk management entities.
Given this, the Government of Cundinamarca and its Mobility Secretariat identified 13 municipalities with critical sections of high accident rates, where the priority strategy is to reduce the number of serious accidents, especially among motorcyclists and young people, the historically most affected groups.
Between 2017 and 2023, the Cundinamarca Mobility Secretariat reported that 26.4% of deaths in traffic accidents took place in rural areas, with excess speed as the main cause. In contrast, urban areas accounted for 19% of the deaths, maintaining the same risk factor although with a lower incidence.
