Mexico train fire: Huge blaze erupts and drivers told to stay away after horror smash

A fuel truck is believed to have crashed into an overpass near a railway line which has resulted in a huge explosion and flames in central Mexico.

The government of the state of Aguascalientes said rescue workers had been sent to the scene, with videos also circulating on social media of the devastating incident.

Aguascalientes fire chief Miguel Murillo said between 800 and 1,000 people were evacuated after the tanker collided with
the overpass and set fire to a nearby residential area.

In one of the videos, the cargo train can be seen travelling at speed, with the brakes heard screeching in the background, in what appears to be the immediate aftermath of the collision at a rail crossing.

Aguascalientes fire chief Miguel Murillo said between 800 and 1,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area (Twitter)

Plumes of smoke continued to thicken and flames appeared to grow closer to the parked cars which were waiting to make the crossing before the incident.

A video, which was filmed behind the crossing, captured one family evacuating their car as the mother and father pulled out their two young children from the vehicle.

Drone footage from another social media post from above the crash site has also revealed the scale of the blaze.

A video posted on the Facebook page of Mayor Leo Montanez stated that at least 120 of the 300 homes are in the area of the crash site.

A family was filmed evacuating their car as the flames and smoke grew closer to their vehicle (Twitter)

Murillo said 12 people had been rescued from houses and no one was injured, although one person has been taken to hospital after suffering minor effects from smoke inhalation.

It is thought that the truck driver has been detained despite conflicting reports about how the blaze started. Local reports suggests a collision between the train and fuel truck, however, Reuters say the truck crashed into an overpass.

Another video has emerged of fire and billowing smoke from under an overpass.

Early reports suggested that the fuel tanker crashed into a cargo train (Twitter)

The incident has happened less than two weeks after at least 53 people - mostly migrants from Central America - died when the lorry transporting them overturned in one of the worst incidents in the region's crisis.

The horror crash occurred on a sharp curve outside the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico, said Luis Manuel Garcia, head of the Chiapas civil protection agency.

The Mexican Attorney General's office put the death toll at 53.