A 72-year-old man was killed and at least five passengers were seriously hurt Saturday morning when a colectivo van hit his car on the Mérida-Motul highway, at the turnoff for Baca.
The crash happened near kilometer 25 of the federal highway, which links Mérida with Motul, about 28 miles (45 km) to the east.
According to Diario de Yucatán, the man was driving a white Nissan Tiida and was pulling onto the highway from the Baca side. He appears not to have yielded to traffic already on the road. A Nissan Urvan colectivo was heading west toward Mérida and rounding the curve at the junction. It struck the car.
The driver died at the scene. A woman riding with him was seriously injured.
Fifteen passengers were on board the van, which belongs to the Liga Roja de Choferes de Motul, a drivers’ cooperative serving the Motul-Mérida route. At least five passengers suffered serious injuries. Diario put the total number of injured at more than a dozen, while other local outlets reported lower figures.
One woman was pinned in the front of the van, and rescue crews had to free her. Regional outlet Quadratín reported that she was taken to the IMSS T-1 hospital in Mérida. Other injured passengers went to hospitals around the city.
Diario reported that the van may have been carrying employees to a maquiladora, or assembly plant, rather than regular route passengers. That detail had not been confirmed Saturday.
Ambulances from the state Public Security Ministry, the SSP, responded along with firefighters and other emergency units. The highway was closed while crews treated the injured and investigators removed the body. One local outlet described the collision as the third traffic incident on that stretch of road Saturday. It also noted ongoing maintenance work and sparse signage in the area.
Colectivos are shared passenger vans. They are the backbone of travel between Mérida and smaller towns, carrying workers, students and shoppers every day. Motul, a designated Pueblo Mágico best known as the birthplace of huevos motuleños, sends a steady stream of commuters into the capital.
The vans have figured in several crashes along this corridor this year. In June, a colectivo and a Ford Fiesta collided near the Kiní turnoff on the nearby Mérida-Tizimín highway, injuring 17 people, 16 of them van passengers. In January, a Motul-Mérida colectivo rear-ended a Va y Ven city bus on Avenida Yucatán in north Mérida, injuring about 10 riders.
The state’s deadliest colectivo crash in recent memory came in September 2025. A passenger van collided with a beer truck on the Mérida-Campeche highway near Kopomá, and 16 people died.
Statewide, traffic engineer René Flores Ayora counted at least 184 road deaths in Yucatán between Jan. 1 and Sept. 22 of this year. Motorcyclists accounted for 95 of those deaths and passengers for 25. He recorded at least 275 road deaths in 2025. He has said the true number is likely higher because some deaths go unrecorded.
Authorities have not released the name of the driver who died. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Fast Facts
- Where: Mérida-Motul highway, near kilometer 25, at the Baca turnoff
- When: Early Saturday, Oct. 17
- Vehicles: A Nissan Tiida and a Nissan Urvan colectivo on the Motul-Mérida route
- Killed: The Tiida’s 72-year-old driver
- Injured: At least five van passengers, plus the driver’s passenger
- Passengers aboard the van: 15
- Emergencies in Yucatán: Dial 911
With reporting from Diario de Yucatán, Quadratín Yucatán, Yucatán Ahora, Sol Quintana Roo and Por Esto!