One person died and more than 40 people were injured after a train accident on the Machu Picchu – Ollantaytambo line. Access to the archaeological site has already been partially restored.
Hundreds of tourists were evacuated on Wednesday after rail services partially resumed to the Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru. Traffic was interrupted by the head-on collision of two trains on Tuesday, in which one person was killed and another 40 people were injured, TASR reports, according to an AFP report.
Around 700 domestic tourists and 1,300 foreign visitors from various countries were stranded in Aguas Calientes after the accident. Rail operator PeruRail said connections to the UNESCO World Heritage site were gradually being restored on Wednesday.
The accident occurred on Tuesday on the single-track line between the cities of Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, where a PeruRail train collided head-on with a set from rival Inca Rail. Investigators believe human error was the cause of the accident. “It seems that for some reason one of the train drivers either didn’t follow (the signals) or didn’t respect them or thought there would be no consequences,” said government official Ernesto Alvarez.
The ancient complex of Machu Picchu, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1983, is visited by an average of approximately 4,500 people per day, according to the Peruvian Ministry of Tourism. Most of them are foreign tourists, who mainly use trains and buses for transportation.
