At least 16 killed in crash on highway in southern Mexico

At least 16 people were killed when a passenger van collided with two other vehicles and caught fire in southern Mexico, according to local officials.

The crash happened on Saturday on the Campeche–Mérida highway near Calkiní, according to Mayor Milton Ulises Millán Atoche.

Authorities said the van was traveling toward Calkiní with workers returning from Mérida when it struck a car and then collided with a trailer truck, causing the van to split in two and burst into flames.

Local officials said 16 people were killed in the accident, most of them burned, while one survivor remains hospitalized.

The governments of Campeche and Yucatán said on Sunday that several bodies have already been identified and returned to relatives. Six others are undergoing DNA testing, and two remain unidentified and unclaimed.

The Yucatán State Attorney General’s Office confirmed that an investigation is underway and said initial findings indicate the van’s driver was speeding before the crash.

The deadly collision follows a series of recent road accidents in Mexico. On Wednesday, at least 13 people were killed and nearly 100 others injured when a gas truck overturned in Mexico City, releasing a gas cloud that ignited and engulfed vehicles and bystanders, according to local officials.

Days earlier, 10 people died and 57 were injured when a freight train struck a passenger bus in the State of Mexico near Atlacomulco.