Mexican Navy troops secure the scene of a deadly train derailment in Asuncion Ixtaltepec municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico, on Sunday. At least 13 people were killed and 98 were injured, according to the Navy Secretariat which operates the country’s rail network. Photo by Luis Villalobos/EPA
Dec. 29 (UPI) — At least 13 people were killed and 98 injured after a train came off the tracks in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, authorities said.
The train, which was en route from Salina Cruz on the Pacific coast to Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf coast, derailed on a bend near Nizanda on Sunday.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said in an update on X early Monday that the injured, five of whom were in a serious condition, were being treated at four area hospitals, adding that she had instructed the Secretary of the Navy and the deputy interior minister to travel to the site and “personally attend to the families” of victims.
In an online post, Oaxaca Gov. Salomon Jara Cruz said of the 250 passengers and crew onboard, 139 were safe and 36 were continuing to receive medical treatment.
Expressing “deep regret,” Jara Cruz said that state authorities were working with federal agencies to assist those affected and pledged his administration would do all it could to help those caught up in the accident.
Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos confirmed an investigation was underway.
The train comprising two locomotives and four passenger cars was on the Interoceanic Corridor route across the Tehuantepec Isthmus, the narrowest part of Mexico, connecting the Gulf coast with the Pacific, according to the Mexican Navy, which is responsible for Mexico’s railways.
The Interoceanic Train began operating in 2023 under former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as part of an effort modernize passenger and freight links across the isthmus.
The long-term goal is to expand ports, railways and industrial infrastructure, stimulating development in the region to eventually create a global trade route to rival the Panama Canal.