Train derails in southern Mexico, killing 13 and injuring dozens

According to officials, a train carrying 250 people partially derailed in southern Mexico, causing at least 13 fatalities and 98 injuries.

The Interoceanic Train, which connects Oaxaca and Veracruz on Sunday, passed a curve near Nizanda, according to the Mexican Navy.

According to the report, “unfortunately, 13 people lost their lives” and that 98 people had been injured.

At the time of the accident, the train had 241 passengers and nine members of the crew. 139 of the 98 injured were said to be uninjured, and 36 of the 98 injured were still receiving medical care.

At least five of those injured were listed as in “serious” condition in a statement posted on X, according to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Sheinbaum said she has instructed the navy’s secretary and other senior officers to visit the area and assist the victims’ families. She added that the incident response is being coordinated by the Interior Ministry.

The attorney general of Mexico announced that an investigation was being launched to find the cause of the accident.

Emergency units were close to the accident site, according to a Mexican channel called Uno Noticias Television, but they had trouble getting there.

One of the train’s carriages was on its side, according to images that were circulated on social media and posted by Mexican news outlets, and another was completely disconnected from the tracks.

Translated: A passenger train slammed. The Isthmus is interoceanic. The Interoceanic passenger train derailed on Sunday, 5 kilometers south of Nizanda, belonging to Asuncion Ixtaltepec, Oaxaca. The train had left Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and was heading to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, according to reports of injuries. Emergency personnel are close by the area, but rescue efforts are hampered by the site’s challenging access.

Some of the passengers who were trapped in the derailed carriages were also captured in video clips that were posted online.

According to a passenger, the train “was coming very quickly” before the derailment, according to a passenger in Mexico’s La Razon newspaper.

The passenger told La Razon, “We don’t know if it lost its brakes.”

Oaxaca Governor Salomon Jara Cruz expressed his country’s “heartfelt condolences to the families of these tragic accidents” in a statement posted on X.

Between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, the train travels both with passengers and cargo.

A cargo truck and a train traveling the same route collided on December 20 while trying to cross the tracks, but neither person died.

Under the direction of then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the line was formally established in 2023 as a significant infrastructure project to develop southeast Mexico.

The initiative was to modernize the land bridge connecting Salina Cruz, Mexico’s Pacific port, with Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf Coast, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.