At least 15 Killed After Truck Crashes Through Multiple Cars

A deadly highway inferno has shaken Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula after a truck carrying workers slammed into two vehicles, igniting a fireball that killed at least 15 people.

Authorities say the truck collided with a private car and a taxi on the road between Mérida and Campeche early Sunday. The impact triggered a violent explosion that consumed the vehicles in flames. Fourteen people trapped inside were burned alive. Another victim died at the scene.

Three survivors were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to nearby hospitals. Their conditions remain unknown.

Shocked drivers who stopped described seeing passengers screaming for help as flames engulfed the vehicles. Others recalled the sight of bodies lying on the pavement.

“Everything happened in seconds. The explosion was deafening,” one witness told Diario de Yucatán. “People were trapped, and nobody could reach them.”

Traffic along the busy federal highway was shut down in both directions as emergency crews battled the blaze and searched for survivors.

Yucatán Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena expressed his grief on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “We express our solidarity and support to the affected families during this painful moment.”

State officials confirmed firefighters, paramedics, and police swarmed the site. The National Guard and forensic teams secured the area and began removing bodies late into the night. Authorities have not yet released the victims’ identities, nor have they confirmed the exact cause of the crash.

Local officials say this is the deadliest road accident in the region in nearly half a century. The last comparable tragedy was in 1979, when a bus overturned on the Suma de Hidalgo–Cansahcab highway, killing 11 and injuring 43.

The crash comes just days after another mass-casualty accident in Mexico: a train struck a double-decker bus outside Mexico City, killing 10 and injuring 45.

Road accidents remain a leading cause of death in Mexico. According to government statistics, thousands are killed each year in bus and truck crashes, often linked to overworked drivers, poor road conditions, and aging vehicles.

One transportation safety advocate told El Universal, “What we saw on this highway is the result of systemic neglect. Workers are crammed into unsafe trucks every single day. Without stricter enforcement, tragedies like this will continue.”

For families waiting for loved ones who never made it home from their shifts, the crash is a devastating blow. Local media reported that many of the dead were young workers from rural towns, leaving behind spouses, children, and elderly parents.