Mexico orders investigation after Mayan train derailment

02-04-24

During his regular press conference, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that an investigation has been launched into the March 25 derailment of the Tren Maya, which is preliminarily attributed to "human error".

López Obrador stated: "An investigation is being carried out, as the situation is quite peculiar. There was a human error at the station, a change of track was not made as it should have been, and we are investigating whether it was intentional or an error on the part of those responsible for managing the tracks".

The incident occurred during the first 100 days of operation of one of the main works of López Obrador's government, when the train derailed upon arriving at the Tixkokob station in Mérida, Yucatán, on its way to the Cancún-Airport station in Quintana Roo.

It is relevant to note that the derailment took place in Section 4 of the project, one of the most controversial sectors of the project, which has not yet been completed.

According to a press release from the Tren Maya company, administered by the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the incident occurred around 9:30 a.m., when the first three cars of train D006 went through a change of tracks at a speed of approximately 10 km/h, causing the fourth car to go off the tracks.

In view of this situation, passengers were evacuated to provide them with transfer assistance to allow them to continue their trip to Cancun. The authorities assured that "this incident did not affect the scheduled operation of the rest of the trains".

Despite speculation by some Internet users and politicians about a possible act of sabotage, there is no concrete evidence in this regard.