MEXICO CITY: The derailment of a cargo train, which killed 11 migrants hitching a ride across southern Mexico, was caused by the theft of railroad parts, authorities said Friday.
The accident was due to the "lack of continuity of the rail," the transport ministry said in a statement.
Authorities also updated an earlier toll of nine dead. Another 18 Central American migrants were wounded in the tragedy.
The train known as "The Beast," which carries migrants who pay smugglers to sit atop freight cars, careened off the track in a swampy and remote area of Tabasco state on Sunday.
The train was believed to be carrying upwards of 250 migrants as it traveled slowly along a river before eight of 12 wagons packed with scrap metal flipped to their side.Tabasco state authorities had initially blamed the derailment on speed and rain.