The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, assured that the priorities after the accident that occurred last Sunday of the interoceanic train crossing the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which left 13 dead, were to treat the victims, but also to investigate the causes and guarantee the safety of the priority work of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The General Prosecutor’s Office (FGR) will participate in the investigation, which will carry out assessments on the operation of the locomotive and the condition of the tracks. Currently, there are 109 injured, 44 of whom had to be hospitalized for fractures and bruises.
Sheinbaum said he would later travel to the area of the derailment to speak at hospitals with relatives of the injured and deceased, including a young girl. Caring for the loved ones of those affected is their main priority, the president said. The second thing would be to clarify “rigorously what led to this accident”. To do this, the FGR, the Oaxaca Prosecutor’s Office and the Mexican Rail Transport Regulatory Agency will be responsible for analyzing the black box of the train to examine its speed, brake pressure and the driving style of the driver, who emerged unscathed from the accident. All evidence is kept in a chain of custody. “We will act very seriously and responsibly,” promised the president.
The Istmeño train derailment occurred at 9:28 a.m., shortly after leaving Salina Cruz, on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, bound for Coatzacoalcos, in the state of Veracruz. The locomotive left the rail between the town of Nizanda and Chivela, in an area where the tracks adapt with curves to the relief of the mountains. Four cars left the tracks, the first slid five meters down the slope of the hill and the second remained suspended in the air. The third and fourth cars derailed on a curve. During the impact, several people suffered bruises and even fractures. At least two passengers required surgery. Among the 13 dead, 12 bodies have already been found and one is still being rescued, reported Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, secretary of the Mexican Navy.
The causes of the accident remain a mystery. Morales Ángeles assured that an hour and a half before the departure of the train, a track inspection vehicle had guaranteed that the rails had no obstacles, no structural failures or deformations, and that the movement of the train was therefore safe. In a video posted on social networks, one of the passengers comments that the train was traveling very fast before the accident. “We felt that the train was coming very hard, we don’t know if it remained without brakes,” says a user in front of the camera. On this subject, the president requested that the investigation be carried out by the FGR.
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