Two trains carrying tourists to Peru’s iconic Machu Picchu collided on Tuesday, resulting in at least one death and injuries to around 30 passengers.
The deceased was identified as a railroad worker, according to Captain Jhonathan Castillo Gonzalez of the Cuzco police department. Following the accident, railway services connecting Machu Picchu and the city of Cuzco were suspended.
The collision occurred in the early afternoon near Qoriwayrachina, an archaeological site, when a train traveling from Machu Picchu collided with a train headed there, according to the railway company. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
Local media videos showed train cars with broken windows and dented sides trapped along a track nestled between dense forest and a massive rock formation.
Machu Picchu attracts roughly 1.5 million visitors annually, most of whom travel by train from the nearby town of Aguas Calientes. The 15th-century Inca site, renowned for its precisely fitted stonework, served as a sanctuary for the empire’s rulers.
Tourism to Machu Picchu has risen about 25% over the past decade, although political disputes and protests occasionally block the railroad. Visitors can also reach the site on foot via a four-day trek from the town of Ollantaytambo.
