Thirteen people were killed and 98 were injured when the Interoceanic Train derailed in the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico, on December 28, 2025. The train was carrying 250 people at the time of the accident.
The Mexican Navy reported the train went off the rails as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda. Of the 98 injured, five remained in critical condition. Thirty-six were still receiving medical assistance, while 57 were reported to be out of danger.
The train was transporting nine crew members and 241 passengers when the derailment occurred. The accident took place five kilometers south of Nizanda, in the municipality of Asuncion Ixtaltepec.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum directed the navy secretary to travel to the site and assist the families of those affected. The Ministry of Interior is coordinating the response to the incident.
A passenger described the moments before the crash, saying the train “was coming very fast.” Another witness said emergency units faced difficult access to the accident site, complicating rescue efforts.
Images from the scene showed one carriage on its side and another completely separated from the tracks.
Oaxaca Governor Salomon Jara Cruz expressed his government’s condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.
Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation to determine the cause of the derailment.
The Interoceanic Train runs between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, connecting the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz. The line links the Pacific port of Salina Cruz with Coatzacoalcos on the Gulf Coast.
The rail line was inaugurated in 2023 as a major infrastructure project under then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The initiative was designed to develop southeast Mexico and create a strategic trade corridor across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
The Mexican government has sought to develop the Isthmus into a route that could compete with the Panama Canal, expanding ports, railways and industrial infrastructure in the region.
This was not the first incident involving the Interoceanic Train. On December 20, a train on the same route collided with a cargo truck attempting to cross the tracks. That incident resulted in no deaths.
The Mexican Navy oversees the railway line that carries both passengers and freight across the strategic land bridge connecting Mexico’s two coasts.
