Mexico train derailment leaves 13 dead and more than 90 injured

Train carrying 241 passengers and nine crew went off rails as it passed a curve in southern state of Oaxaca

Rescue personnel help passengers from the train that derailed in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. AFP

At least 13 people were killed after a train carrying ‌241 people derailed in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca on Sunday.

The Interoceanic train on a service linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda.

Officials said that 241 passengers and nine crew members were on the train when the accident occurred.

“The Mexican Navy has informed me that, tragically, 13 people died in the Interoceanic train accident,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted on X, adding that 98 people are injured, five of them seriously.

Oaxaca state governor Salomon Jara said several government agencies had reached the site of the accident to assist the injured.

The Interoceanic train service was inaugurated in 2023 by then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to develop south-east Mexico.

It is part of a broader push to develop infrastructure along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a narrow stretch of land between the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.