At Least 6 Dead, Dozens Injured as Train Carrying Migrants Derails in Mexico RT.com
go to original August 25, 2013

At least six people are dead and dozens more injured after the freight train they were riding on derailed in southern Mexico. The train - known as "The Beast" - runs north towards the US border. It regularly carries migrants from south and central America trying to reach the United States. Al Jazeera's Mereana Hond reports. (AlJazeeraEnglish)

A notorious freight train used by undocumented migrants to cross into the United States has derailed in Mexico, killing at least six, and injuring more than 35 people.

Luis Felipe Puente, the national civil protection coordinator, has said that 16 of those hurt in the crash, are in grave condition.

Mexican Red Cross is reportedly at the scene, 10 km from the city of Veracruz, attempting to extract remaining passengers trapped under the wreckage.

The crash reportedly occurred at 3 am on Sunday, when the train exceeded its prescribed speed on a track made slippery by earlier rainfall.

The train, known as the Beast, has become famous across the world, for carrying thousands of illegal immigrants from Mexico and central America to the US each year. Travellers, who find places inside the carriages and even strap themselves onto the roof for the duration of the journey, also brave potential assaults and robberies and bee attacks en-route to their destination.

Officials say that up to 300 people, most of them likely migrants, were on-board the train at the time of the accident.

See the original at RT.com

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!