Mexico’s Navy says the train was carrying 250 people when it derailed partially near the town of Nizanda in Oaxaca.

A train carrying 250 people has derailed partially in southern Mexico, killing at least 13 people and injuring 98, according to officials.

The Mexican Navy said that the Interoceanic Train linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails on Sunday as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda.

It said that 98 people were injured and that, “unfortunately, 13 people lost their lives”.

The train was carrying nine crew members and 241 passengers at the time of the accident. Of those on board, 139 were reported to be out of danger, while 36 of the 98 injured were still receiving medical assistance.

In a statement posted on X, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that at least five of those injured were in “serious” condition.

Sheinbaum said she has directed the secretary of the navy and other senior personnel to travel to the area and assist the families of those affected. She added that the Ministry of Interior is coordinating the response to the incident.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said it was opening an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

Uno Noticias Television, a Mexican channel, reported that emergency units were near the site of the accident but faced difficulty in accessing the area.

Images circulating on social media and posted by Mexican news outlets showed one of the carriages of the train on its side, while another was completely separated from the train tracks.

Translation: Passenger train derailed. Interoceanic in the Isthmus. This Sunday, the Interoceanic passenger train derailed, 5 kilometres south of Nizanda, belonging to Asuncion Ixtaltepec, Oaxaca. Injuries have been reported; the train had departed from Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and was heading to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. Emergency units are near the area, but the difficult access to the site is complicating rescue efforts.

Video clips posted online also showed some of the passengers trapped in the derailed carriages.

A passenger was quoted by Mexico’s La Razon newspaper as saying that before the derailment, the train “was coming very fast”.

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

In a statement posted on X, Oaxaca Governor Salomon Jara Cruz expressed his government’s “heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this unfortunate accident”.

The train runs between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and carries both passengers and freight.

On December 20, a train on the same route collided with a cargo truck attempting to cross the tracks, although the incident did not result in any deaths.

The line was inaugurated in 2023 as a major infrastructure project under then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to develop southeast Mexico.

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

The Mexican government has sought to develop the Isthmus into a strategic trade corridor, expanding ports, railways and industrial infrastructure with the goal of creating a route that could compete with the Panama Canal.