Train Crash Near Peru’s Machu Picchu Kills One, Injures 40

Police officers carry an injured passenger from one of the two trains affected after a head-on collision connecting Machu Picchu with Ollantaytambo in Pampacahua, Cusco Department, Peru, on December 30, 2025. (AFP)
Police officers carry an injured passenger from one of the two trains affected after a head-on collision connecting Machu Picchu with Ollantaytambo in Pampacahua, Cusco Department, Peru, on December 30, 2025. (AFP)
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Train Crash Near Peru’s Machu Picchu Kills One, Injures 40

Police officers carry an injured passenger from one of the two trains affected after a head-on collision connecting Machu Picchu with Ollantaytambo in Pampacahua, Cusco Department, Peru, on December 30, 2025. (AFP)
Police officers carry an injured passenger from one of the two trains affected after a head-on collision connecting Machu Picchu with Ollantaytambo in Pampacahua, Cusco Department, Peru, on December 30, 2025. (AFP)

A head-on collision between two trains on the line that services Peru's Machu Picchu killed one person and injured at least 40 others, authorities said, updating an earlier toll.

The deceased was the conductor of one of the two trains, according to the prosecutor's office in Cusco, the city closest to the famous Inca citadel.

Officials said they were working to identify the injured train passengers, many of them foreign visitors and most of them seriously hurt.

Videos sent by passengers to the RPP television channel showed injured victims lying next to the tracks with two damaged locomotives standing idle nearby.

A dozen ambulances and medical personnel were rushed to the site in a remote Andean area without direct road access.

Police wearing hardhats and neon-colored jackets carried injured passengers on stretchers from the trains to receive treatment.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, the ancient fortified complex of Machu Picchu receives some 4,500 visitors on average each day, many of them foreigners, according to the tourism ministry.

Most tourists take a train and a bus to reach the historic site high in the Andes mountains.

Rail agency Ferrocarril Transandino said a train operated by PeruRail collided with another belonging to Inca Rail around lunchtime on the single track that links the town of Ollantaytambo with Machu Picchu.

The cause of the accident was not yet known.

In September, about 1,400 tourists were evacuated from the Aguas Calientes train station that serves Machu Picchu and 900 others were left stranded after protesters blocked the railway tracks with logs and rocks.

Locals were demanding a new bus company be chosen in a fair bidding process to ferry visitors to the foot of Machu Picchu, and have repeatedly protested to press their demands.

The Inca empire's ancient capital Machu Picchu was built in the 15th century at an altitude of 2,500 meters (about 8,200 feet) on orders from the Inca ruler Pachacutec. It is considered a marvel of architecture and engineering.



US Fires on Iran Tankers as Talks Hang in Balance

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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US Fires on Iran Tankers as Talks Hang in Balance

US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
US and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken June 18, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

A US warplane disabled two Iranian tankers to enforce a port blockade on Friday, after Washington's top diplomat said he was awaiting Tehran's response to the latest proposed deal to end the Gulf conflict.

US Central Command said an F/A-18 Super Hornet had used precision munitions on the two ships to prevent them from continuing to Iran, as Iranian media reported "sporadic clashes" with US vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, AFP reported.

The latest incidents came after an overnight exchange of fire that triggered fears of a breakdown in the Gulf ceasefire, and after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Rome that Washington hoped to receive Tehran's answer to the US proposal later on Friday.

Rubio said Iran must not control the Strait of Hormuz, where the flare-ups took place, but added: "We're expecting a response from them today at some point... I hope it's a serious offer, I really do."

Washington has sent Iran, via Pakistani mediators, a proposal to extend the truce in the Gulf to allow talks on a final settlement of the conflict launched 10 weeks ago with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Friday that the proposal was still "under review, and once a final decision is reached, it will certainly be announced", according to the ISNA news agency.


Iran Says Redirects US-sanctioned Oil Tanker to Its Shores

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Iran Says Redirects US-sanctioned Oil Tanker to Its Shores

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Iran said on Friday it redirected a US-sanctioned oil tanker carrying Iranian oil back to its shores, though it was unclear from its statement why it would have returned it, reported AFP.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran's navy, through a specially planned operation in the Sea of Oman, seized the offending tanker Ocean Koi," the army said in a statement carried by state television, adding that the oil belonged to Iran.

It said the ship was redirected to Iran's southern shores after it sought "to damage and disrupt Iran's oil exports," without elaborating.


Meloni Meets Rubio as Iran War Strains Italy-US Ties

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
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Meloni Meets Rubio as Iran War Strains Italy-US Ties

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves the San Damaso courtyard after meeting Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, May 7, 2026. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday at a moment of unusual strain between her government and President Donald Trump's administration, driven largely by the war with Iran.

Rubio is in Italy for a two-day trip aimed at easing ties with Pope Leo after unprecedented attacks on the pontiff by Trump, while also addressing Washington's frustration over Italy's refusal to support the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Meloni had been one of Trump's firmest supporters in Europe, cultivating close ties with him and presenting herself as a natural ‌bridge between Washington ‌and other EU states that had no natural political ‌affinity ⁠with the Republican ⁠US leader.

But that alignment has come under increasing strain in recent months, as the Iran war has forced her to balance loyalty to the United States against Italian public animosity to the war and the growing economic cost of the conflict.

Before heading to the prime minister's office, Rubio met Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said the talks had been positive.

"I am convinced ⁠that Europe needs America, Italy needs America, but the United ‌States also needs Europe and Italy," Tajani ‌told reporters.

Meloni and Rubio were expected to discuss the situation in the Gulf, as ‌well as Russia's war on Ukraine, US tariffs on European goods and ‌the outlook for Cuba, which Washington is seeking to isolate both diplomatically and economically.

TRUMP'S ATTACKS ON POPE

The Italians will also be keen for a readout on Rubio's meetings at the Vatican. Trump's recent attacks on Pope Leo crossed a sensitive ‌line in overwhelmingly Catholic Italy and prompted Meloni to call them "unacceptable."

Her criticism in turn drew a sharp rebuke ⁠from Trump, who said ⁠she lacked courage and had let Washington down. He subsequently threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy.

Meloni said on Monday she would not support such a move, but acknowledged that the decision "doesn't depend on me".

Italy last month refused to allow US aircraft to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for combat operations linked to the Iran conflict. Italian officials have said Washington had not sought prior authorization from Rome for the use of the site.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, a close Meloni ally, later warned that the Iran war was putting US global leadership at risk and said he feared the "madness" of nuclear escalation.

Pollsters say Meloni's ties to Trump could prove a potential liability with voters ahead of national elections due next year.