At least 13 people - mostly foreign tourists - have been injured after two trains collided in southern Peru.

The crash happened a few miles from the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.

It appears one of the trains was forced to stop because of a protest in the area.

Clint Bertucci was on board when the crash happened. </s> LIMA, Peru — Two trains have crashed near the ancient Incan citadel of Machu Picchu, an archaeological site in Peru visited by thousands of tourists each year.

There’s no immediate confirmation from government officials on how many people have been injured or their conditions.

Images posted on social media showed two tourist trains pressed against each other on a rail track and broken glass behind one set of seats.

Other videos and photographs showed tourists with backpacks making calls on cellphones and sitting on the ground beside the trains.

RPP News reported the incident happened at about 10 a.m. Tuesday. One witness said one of the trains had stopped because of a protest in the area. </s> Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A train crash near Machu Picchu, an Inca citadel and popular tourist site in Peru, injured more than a dozen tourists Tuesday.

Peru's Ombudsman' Office reported 15 people hurt from the crash on the Machu Picchu railway. Two were critically hurt.

Officials said the accident occurred when two trains from different operators collided.

A statement from Inca Rail, one of the two train companies, identified one tourist in serious condition as a Chilean national.

"Due to the situation, emergency protocol was followed evacuating the affected persons to ambulances so that they could receive the needed medical attention," PeruRail said in a statement. "After assisting the injured, an investigation will be carried out to determine what caused this unfortunate accident."

An Inca Rail passenger said one train was forced to stop because Peruvian protesters had gathered in the area, Andina reported. </s> A number of tourists were injured when a train crashed into the rear of another near the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, officials said.

Police are investigating the cause of Tuesday's accident, which occurred along a popular tourism route from the village of Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu in southern Peru.

At least 13 people were injured, most of them foreign tourists, said Eulogio Farfan, a police chief in the nearby town of Urubamba.

A police officer in Ollantaytambo, Edson Quispe, said there were 23 injured in the collision.

Farfan said a train operated by PeruRail S.A., owned jointly by Belmond Ltd and Ferrocarril Transandino S.A., struck a train operated by IncaRail, another railway service that takes tourists to Machu Picchu, Peru's biggest tourist site.

IncaRail said only one of its passengers, a Chilean woman, had been injured in the accident and the rest would continue their trip to Machu Picchu.

PeruRail said it activated its emergency protocol to evacuate the injured by ambulance and would investigate the cause. </s> About 15 tourists have been injured near Machu Picchu in Peru after two passenger trains collided on Tuesday, local authorities say.

The trains, owned by rival companies, crashed en route to the country's most visited tourist attraction - the ancient Inca citadel.

It is still not clear what caused the collision. Police said investigations were under way.

The passenger trains belonged to competing local operators, Peru Rail and Inca Rail.

Peru Rail confirmed the collision on Twitter and released a statement in Spanish saying that emergency protocol had been followed to evacuate those affected.

One of the passengers on the Inca Rail train told local media that the accident occurred due to a protest on the tracks that forced the train to halt for an hour.

Police and the train operators are yet to confirm this allegation.

The citadel of Machu Picchu, located 2,500m (8,200ft) above sea level, is the most famous monument of the Inca empire, which ruled Peru until the 15th-Century Spanish conquest.

Often referred to as the "lost city of the Incas", the World Heritage Site is thought to have been built around 1450 AD. </s> Several foreign tourists have been injured in a collision between two passenger trains near Peru’s most popular tourist site – the Inca citadel Machu Picchu.

The accident on Tuesday took place when trains operated by two competing rail companies crashed on the principal route to the ruins from the village of Ollantaytambo, near Cusco, in southern Peru, said local police.

At least 10 people were injured in the collision, five of them seriously, said Peru’s civil defence institute.

Witnesses said a train operated by PeruRail hit from behind a train operated by IncaRail, another rail operator which takes tourists to the Unesco world heritage site.

Social media posts showed the two trains shunted together on a railway track.

Other images showed shattered glass on a leather seat and another set of seats hanging outside a carriage.

IncaRail said only one of its passengers, a Chilean woman, had been injured in the accident and the rest would continue their trip to Machu Picchu.

PeruRail said injured people were taken away in ambulances and it was investigating the cause of the incident.

However, at least one passenger on the IncaRail train told local news outlets that the train had stopped because of a protest which had blocked the railway tracks.

“We stopped for an hour, then the protest was cleared, the train continued its route, and five minutes later we felt a strong impact on the back. It was a PeruRail train that hit us,” Valeria Lozana told the state news agency Andina.

Police are investigating whether the protest was carried out by a group of Peruvian tourists who were not able to board the train at a point where it is reserved for local communities who pay a discounted fare.

Visitor numbers have boomed to Machu Picchu in recent years, topping 1.4 million people in 2017 – an average of 5,000 people a day during July and August, double the 2,500 visitors recommended by Unesco. </s> Nearly a dozen people, including several foreigners, were injured when two trains collided Tuesday near Peru’s most popular tourist destination, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu.

The two competing train companies crashed along the main route transporting tourists to the Unesco world heritage site in Ollantaytambo village, the reports.

Peru’s civil defense institute said at least 10 people were injured in the passenger train collision, five seriously.

It remains unclear what caused the collision.

Eyewitnesses told the that a train operated by PeruRail collided into the backend of a train operated by IncaRail.

Before the crash, a group of Peruvian tourists reportedly stage a protest over being unable to board the train at an entry point reserved for locals.

“We stopped for an hour, then the protest was cleared, the train continued its route, and five minutes later we felt a strong impact on the back. It was a PeruRail train that hit us,” Valeria Lozana told the state news agency Andina, according to the ‘s translation.

Pictures posted to social media showed the shattered glass and blown out windows of one of the train carriages. Other images captured the trains smacked together on the tracks.

IncaRail said only one of its passengers, a Chilean woman, was injured in the collision, while PeruRail said some passengers were taken away in ambulances. </s> At least 23 people have been injured as two passenger trains heading to the famed 15-th century ruins in Peru's Cusco Region collided on Tuesday. Many of the people hurt in the crash are reported to be foreign tourists.A Peru Rail train bumped into the rear of an Inca Rail train several dozen kilometers from the world-famous tourist attraction near the town of Ollantaytambo on Tuesday morning at around 9 a.m.The photos of the incident show the windows of a carriage shattered and its metal frame damaged from the impact.Machu Picchu municipal authorities have confirmed that five people have been badly injured in the incident, three of them were transferred to a hospital in Urubamba Province, while the others were taken to the city of Cusco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire.Many among them are foreign travelers.While police have launched an investigation into the incident,A witness told state-run Andina news agency that the Inca Rail train was stranded for nearly an hour as police worked to remove a group of local demonstrators."We stopped for an hour, then the protest was cleared, the train continued its route, and five minutes later we felt a strong impact on the back. It was a Peru Rail train that hit us," Valeria Lozana said.A group of about 30 Peruvian tourists, who were unable to buy train tickets to Machu Pichu, blocked the tracks, police stated after the incident.Despite speculation that the delay caused by the protest might have led to the collision with the incoming train, Machu Picchu authorities dismissed this version in a statement. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Passengers and crew stand along the track where the trains crashed, near Machu Pichhu

About 15 tourists have been injured near Machu Picchu in Peru after two passenger trains collided on Tuesday, local authorities say.

The trains, owned by rival companies, crashed en route to the country's most visited tourist attraction - the ancient Inca citadel.

It is still not clear what caused the collision. Police said investigations were under way.

Machu Picchu attracts more than a million visitors a year.

The passenger trains belonged to competing local operators, Peru Rail and Inca Rail.

Peru Rail confirmed the collision on Twitter and released a statement in Spanish saying that emergency protocol had been followed to evacuate those affected.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Part of the damage sustained by one of the two tourist trains

One of the passengers on the Inca Rail train told local media that the accident occurred due to a protest on the tracks that forced the train to halt for an hour.

Police and the train operators are yet to confirm this allegation.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption It's still not clear what caused the collision

The citadel of Machu Picchu, located 2,500m (8,200ft) above sea level, is the most famous monument of the Inca empire, which ruled Peru until the 15th-Century Spanish conquest.

Often referred to as the "lost city of the Incas", the World Heritage Site is thought to have been built around 1450 AD.
In Peru, two trains collide en route to Machu Picchu, injuring 15.