ATLACOMULCO, Mexico (AP) — A freight train sheared a double-decker bus in half at a crossing northwest of Mexico City on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 55, authorities said.
The accident took place in an industrial area of warehouses and factories in the town of Atlacomulco, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of the Mexican capital.
The state of Mexico’s civil defense agency said on X that authorities were still working at the site of the accident, and the state prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation. The bus from the Herradura de Plata line was ripped apart by the collision.
Authorities said 10 people were killed and 55 were injured. Local media reports said the injured were taken to hospitals throughout the state.
The bus company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The train line, Canadian Pacific Kansas City of Mexico, confirmed the accident and sent its condolences to the families of the victims. The Calgary, Canada-based company said its personnel were on site and cooperating with authorities.
Authorities did not immediately give details about how the accident occurred, but one video circulated on social platforms showed the bus in heavy traffic slowly moving across the train tracks when the fast-moving train suddenly appeared out of frame, ramming the bus at its midpoint.
The train’s momentum carried the bus down the tracks and out of frame. The front half came to rest in the opposing traffic lanes beside the crossing and the rear half farther down on the opposite side of the tracks.
There were no visible crossing gates or other stop lights, witnesses said.
But shortly before 7 a.m., 33-year-old Miguel Sánchez said he heard the train blow its horn like trains always do well ahead of the crossing. Sánchez works at a service station about 100 yards (meters) away.
Cars continued to cross the track in the lead-up to the crash. Then, the train barreled into the bus.
Cars going in the other direction stopped crossing the tracks at the time the bus drove onto them, though a motorcycle scooted across seconds before the crash. The train hit the passenger side of the bus.
“We heard a crash. We thought it was just a car. We never thought it would be a bus with so many people aboard,” Sánchez said.
Another video showed the bus at rest to the side of the tracks. The roof of the bus was gone and people could be seen moving on the top level as the train slowed to a stop.
A woman could be heard crying, “Help me, help me.” Shortly after, a flood of ambulances arrived at the scene, Sánchez said.
Rebeca Miranda waited beside the tracks Monday for authorities to tell her what would happen with the victims’ bodies. Her sister and her sister’s daughter-in-law were on the bus when it was hit around 6:30 a.m., she said.
Her sister was taken to the hospital and was able to speak, but the other woman died in the accident, Miranda said. They were both domestic workers. Miranda said she couldn’t be with her sister in the hospital because she needed to find out what would be done with the other woman’s body.
Miranda said the bus should not have been crossing the tracks just as the train was careening through the intersection. “It’s really unfortunate. Why? To beat the train. Those are lives.”
According to the most recent report from Mexico’s Rail Transportation Regulating Agency published in September, accidents at grade-level crossings are the most common and have been on an upward trend in recent years.
Last year there were 800 compared to 602 in 2020, the report said. The document did not include how many victims were involved in the accidents.
Last month, six people died when a train hit several vehicles in Guanajuato state. In 2019, nine people were killed when a freight train struck a passenger bus crossing the tracks in the central state of Queretaro.
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Fabiola Sánchez, Megan Janetsky and María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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