'Don't know if brakes...': What passengers said about Mexico train accident that killed at least 13, injured 98

At least 13 people died and 98 were injured after the Trans-Isthmus train in southern Mexico derailed on Sunday morning (local time).

Out of the 98 people injured, 36 were hospitalised with serious injuries of which nine were critically injured, the Mexican Navy said, as per an El Pais report.

The report added that the train had been travelling along Line Z of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec project, which runs from Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. This 2023 tourism project connects the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.

It was reportedly the "derailment of the main engine" that caused the train—comprising two locomotives and four passenger cars—to almost completely veer off the tracks, as per the Mexican Navy. Some visuals even show parts of the train overturning into a ravine.

“We felt the train coming in very fast; we don’t know if the brakes failed,” a passenger said in a now-viral video showing visuals from the wreckage.

He explained that his family was saved only because they had been in the last car, which was left nearly intact.

"So many people are lying there ... We're okay, a little banged up, but okay," he added.

"Please help us get out. Please," another passenger could be heard saying amid sobs, in a video showing passengers stuck inside an almost-overturned rail car.

Other videos showed passengers crying for help at the scene, with federal and state authorities contributing to the rescue efforts.

Specifically, 360 naval personnel, 20 vehicles, four land ambulances, three air ambulances, and a tactical drone were deployed in the rescue efforts, the Navy said.

"I have given instructions for the Secretary of the Navy and the Undersecretary of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior to go to the place and attend to the families personally; also the delegates of IMSS and IMSS-Bienestar," said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, expressing sympathy for those who died in the tragic accident.

The Attorney General's Office (FGR) has begun a probe to determine the cause of the derailment.

Notably, this comes after a December 20 accident on the Interoceanic Corridor in which a train travelling on Line FA (from Coatzacoalcos to Pakal-Na) collided with an oil tanker that had attempted to cross the tracks. No deaths were reported in this accident.