The bus driver, 13 passengers, and both men in the tanker burned to death. Four passengers got out alive.
The head-on collision happened around midday on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, on the Trans-Sumatra Highway in North Musi Rawas regency, South Sumatra. An intercity bus carrying at least 20 people, running from Lubuklinggau to Jambi, hit a fuel tanker coming the other way. Mugono, a local disaster management agency official who uses one name, said the impact started a fire that engulfed both vehicles “leaving many victims trapped inside.”
Sparks, then the swerve
Preliminary findings, Mugono said, suggest the bus may have thrown off sparks just before the crash. The driver apparently steered right to avoid something worse. The tanker was approaching fast and there was no time left. Wikipedia’s account of the crash, citing Indonesian media, puts the time of impact at 12:39 local time.
Of the four survivors, three had severe burns and one was lightly hurt. They were taken to a nearby health clinic. Some of the dead were pinned in the wreckage, which slowed the rescue, Mugono said. Disaster officers and traffic police pulled out victims and cleared the highway, and traffic backed up for the duration.
Images released by the National Search and Rescue Agency show firefighters working against thick black smoke and orange flames, and the charred shells of the bus and tanker amid twisted metal on the road.
The count is still moving
Officials had said the passenger manifest was still being traced, so the total was not final. It did rise. A later Detik report, dated May 15, put the death toll at 19, with three bodies not yet identified. The National Transportation Safety Committee, police and other agencies are investigating the cause.
The crash came a week after a long-distance train hit a stopped commuter train near Jakarta, killing at least 16 women seated in the rear carriage reserved for female passengers.
Sources
- Bus and oil tanker collide in Indonesia, killing at least 16 people
- 2026 North Musi Rawas collision – Wikipedia
Sources
- Bus and oil tanker collide in Indonesia, killing at least 16 people – CNA
- 2026 North Musi Rawas collision – Wikipedia
