Three people were killed and at least 50 were injured when an Amtrak train collided with a dump truck in Missouri Monday, The Kansas City Starreports.
Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesperson Cpl. Justin Dunn said seven cars were derailed following the collision at an uncontrolled intersection in which there are no warning lights or motion gates, per CNN. Amtrak alleges the incident resulted in eight cars and two locomotives leaving the track “after striking a truck that was obstructing a public crossing” near the city of Mendon.
Amtrak said the train, which was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago, was carrying 243 passengers and 12 crew members. Two of the people who died were on the train, while the other was in the truck.
Robert Nightingale, a passenger aboard the derailed train, told CNN that he was napping in the sleeper car when the collision occurred. “It all happened like slow motion. It started to rock and, and rock, and then flicker, and then it just all of a sudden – all this dust was through my window,” said Nightingale, who came away uninjured.
A number of cars fell on its side, as seen in the photos below, taken by passenger Dax McDonald.
Those who were injured were transported to several hospitals in Missouri and the uninjured were given a small piece of masking tape to wear as a way of signifying that they didn’t require medical attention. The people in the latter group were taken to a gymnasium at Northwestern High School in Mendon.
The incident comes one day after an Amtrak train collided with a passenger vehicle in California, resulting in the death of three people, along with serious injuries sustained by an adult and child.
