A passenger train derailed on a rail line that Mexico's government had prioritized and opened, leaving more than 100 dead or injured. The section is a key piece of infrastructure aimed at expanding international logistics, and safety concerns are expected to be unavoidable.
The Mexico Navy (SEMAR) said on the 28th (local time) on social media (SNS) X that a train on the Z line, which passes through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, derailed. The Navy said it is working with local authorities to assist passengers and handle the aftermath.
The train was carrying a total of 250 people, including 241 passengers and 9 crew members. It left Salina Cruz in Oaxaca state in the morning and was headed to Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state when it derailed near the village of Nizanda in Oaxaca.
On local social media, videos were widely shared showing passengers exiting cars that had come off the track and stopped, and moving to safe areas. Immediately after the crash, about 10 people were reported injured, but the toll rose significantly after additional checks by authorities.
Around 6 p.m. that day, the Mexico Navy released a press statement saying, "Thirteen people have died, and 98 are counted as injured," adding, "Of those, 36 are being treated at hospitals."
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum also shared the same information on X and said the Interior Ministry and the Navy were instructed to support the bereaved families. She emphasized that all-out efforts are being made on the response and to support victims.
The Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (ICCT), where the crash occurred, is a roughly 300-kilometer rail line connecting ports on the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Mexico. The line has been pushed as a national core infrastructure project by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Sheinbaum administration.
Former President López Obrador personally attended the opening ceremony held on Dec. 22, 2023, in Salina Cruz and said he expected the isthmus regional development project to succeed.
Based on this railway, Mexico's government has sought to expand its influence in international logistics connecting the Americas and Asia, and in the long term, to explore the possibility of an alternative route to the Panama Canal. Under this plan, Korean cars for export to the United States were test-shipped on this line this year.
However, with questions raised about local authorities' safety management system after this major derailment, some expect it will take considerable time before the integrated land-sea logistics transfer route goes into full operation.