A head-on train collision on the route to Peru’s Machu Picchu has left one dead and 40 injured, many of them foreign visitors.
CUSCO: A head-on collision between two tourist trains on the line to Peru’s Machu Picchu has killed one person and injured at least 40 others.
The deceased was identified as the conductor of one of the trains involved, according to the Cusco prosecutor’s office.
Officials are working to identify the injured passengers, many of whom are foreign visitors and most seriously hurt.
Videos from the scene showed injured victims lying beside the tracks near two heavily damaged locomotives.
A dozen ambulances and medical personnel were dispatched to the remote Andean site, which has no direct road access.
Police in hardhats and neon jackets carried injured passengers on stretchers from the wreckage for treatment.
The accident occurred around lunchtime on the single track linking Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu.
Rail agency Ferrocarril Transandino stated a PeruRail train collided with another operated by Inca Rail.
The cause of the crash is currently unknown.
Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, receives an average of 4,500 visitors daily, most arriving by train and bus.
In September, protests by locals demanding a fair bus tender blocked the railway, stranding hundreds of tourists.
The 15th-century Inca citadel, built at an altitude of 2,500 meters, is considered an architectural marvel.
