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Thirteen dead, 98 hurt after train derails in Mexico

At least 13 passengers are dead and dozens are injured after a train derailed in Mexico (file pic). (EPA PHOTO)

At ​least 13 people are dead ⁠after a train derailed in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca.

The Interoceanic train was ‌carrying 250 ​people, including nine crew members ‍and 241 passengers. Of those on board, 193 were reported to be out of danger, while 98 were injured, ​including 36 ‌who were receiving medical assistance, the Mexican Navy said.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said ​on X that five ‍of the injured were in a critical condition.

The derailment occurred between ​the ​towns of ​Chivela and Nizanda, authorities said.

Mexico's ​Attorney General's Office has already opened an investigation into the incident, Attorney General Ernestina Godoy Ramos said in a social media post.

The Interoceanic Train, inaugurated in 2023 under former president Andres Manuel ​Lopez Obrador, forms part of the broader Interoceanic Corridor project.

The initiative ‍was designed to modernise the rail link across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 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.

The train service is also part of a broader push to expand passenger and freight rail in southern Mexico and stimulate economic development ‍in the region.

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