Machu Picchu train line crash kills 1, injures at least 30 tourists

Two trains taking tourists to Peru's famed archaeological site of Machu Picchu crashed on Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring around 30 passengers.

The person killed was a railroad worker, according to Jhonathan Castillo Gonzalez, a captain with the Cuzco police department. He told The Associated Press that the railway suspended services along the rail line connecting Machu Picchu with the nearby city of Cuzco after the accident.

According to the company operating the railway, a train coming from Machu Picchu collided with a train headed there in the early afternoon, near Qoriwayrachina, also an archeological site.


No further details about what had caused the crash were immediately available.

Videos on local media showed train cars with broken windows and dented sides stuck along a rail line hemmed in between a lush forest and a massive rock.

Machu Picchu gets around 1.5 million visitors per year, mostly arriving by train to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes. Known for its perfectly fitting stone bricks, the site was built in the 15th century by the Incas and served as a sanctuary for the nation's emperors.

The number of people visiting Machu Pichu has increased by about 25% over the past decade, but tourism in the area has also been affected by political turmoil and disputes over how the site is managed, with protesters sometimes blocking the railroad that leads to the ancient site.

Machu Picchu can also be reached on foot, with visitors trekking from the small town of Ollantaytambo. The trek takes about four days.