At least 13 people died and almost 100 were injured in Oaxaca, Mexico on Sunday after an Interoceanic Train carrying 250 passengers derailed.
The accident occurred near the town of Nizanda on a train part of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Mexican Secretary of the Navy informed through an official statement that nine crew members and 241 passengers were travelling aboard the train at the time its main engine derailed.
Of the total, 13 regrettably lost their lives and 98 were left injured, 36 of which still receiving medical attention as of Sunday, the remaining 139 are out of danger.
Azteca Noticias shared a brief clip recorded by some of the passengers inside the detailed train, calling for help as a voice is heard saying “we’re gonna help you get out.”
The Mexican newspaper El Universal published footage of Civil Protection personnel carrying an injured woman wearing a neck brace on a stretcher. The newspaper pointed out that members of this public service can be seen nearby in the footage, along with Navy personnel and other citizens.
“I have instructed the Secretary of the Navy and the Undersecretary for Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior to travel to the site and personally attend to the families, along with representatives from IMSS and IMSS-Bienestar,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said through a Sunday evening social media post.
“The Ministry of the Interior will coordinate the efforts. I am grateful for the support of the governor of Oaxaca and his team. We will continue to provide updates,” she concluded.
The exact cause of the accident is not publicly known at press time. According to remarks given by some of the survivors to El Universal, the passengers “felt that the train was coming very fast and we don’t know if it lost its brakes.” The witness reportedly said that he and his family were travelling on the train’s rear car, leaving them only with minor injuries.
El Universal further pointed out on Monday morning that Sunday’s deadly train crash is the sixth accident involving either the Maya Train or the Interoceanic Train since March 2024 and the first with a death toll.
The Interoceanic Train’s Line Z, where Sunday’s accident took place, is a 212 kilometers-long train route inaugurated by the Mexican government in 2023 that runs from Veracruz, Atlántico to Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and is 212 kilometers long.
At least 13 people were killed and 98 injured after the Interoceanic train derailed in Mexicoâs southern state of Oaxaca. (Photo by Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Earlier this month, on December 20, another accident occurred at the same interoceanic route when a train unit collided with an asphalt tanker vehicle that attempted to cross its tracks and cut the train out.
Although the asphalt truck’s driver was injured, none of the 148 passengers aboard that train nor its were injured according to Mexican federal authorities.
