A fuel tanker truck collided this Thursday night with the train in Minas, Camagüey, causing the derailment of the locomotive and minor injuries to three people.
The incident occurred at 9:20 p.m. at kilometer 31300 of the Nuevitas branch, when the truck, owned by the Cupet company, stopped at a level crossing, reported the Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, in his account. Facebook.
According to the official, the train, which left Camagüey at 5:40 pm bound for Nuevitas, transported passengers in five cars.
After the collision, he adds, the locomotive was left half overturned and the driver’s assistant, the truck driver and his companion were injured without serious injuries.
The three were transferred to the provincial hospital of Camagüey for medical examinations, during which the authorities, along with rescue teams and Cupet managers, went to the scene.
Meanwhile, passengers were evacuated to their destination in two local buses, and a replacement locomotive was sent from Camagüey to reestablish rail transit, interrupted in Minas.
This Thursday’s derailment is the most recent in a series of railway accidents that have occurred in recent times in Cuba, some of which have left victims and considerable damage to equipment and tracks.
In early September, a freight train derailed in Mayabequecausing a thousand spills in the area, as well as damage to cars and the railway.
Cuba reports 502 deaths in traffic accidents between January and August
The accident occurred on the Hershey Line, near the Jibacoa stop, and affected a train that was loading bulk honey from two sugar mills in the province of Camagüey. The head of Transportation then explained that “an initial evaluation at the site confirmed that there was no damage to the personnel crewing the train,” while the locomotive was not affected either.
The most recent events also include the one suffered in mid-August by a passenger train upon arrival in Havana, although without injuries or significant damage. Another took place at the beginning of that same month in Matanzasan event that left at least three minor injuries and seven cars derailed and affected about 250 meters of railway track.
Cuba has recorded 502 deaths in traffic accidents between January and August 2025, which is equivalent to 80% of the total number of deaths from this cause in the entire previous year and, therefore, points to an increase in mortality on the island’s roads.
According to a report from the National Road Safety Commission released by official media, in the first eight months of this year, 41 more accidents were reported than in the same period of 2024, with a balance of 4,516 injuries.
In comparison, in 2024 as a whole, 7,507 traffic accidents were recorded, 12% less than in 2023, with a total of 638 deaths, according to January data from the National Road Safety Commission.
