An Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed Monday in Missouri after striking a dump truck and at least three people were killed and multiple people injured, authorities said.
Seven cars on an Amtrak Southwest Chief train derailed near Mendon, Missouri at a rural railroad crossing on a gravel road, the Missouri State High Patrol said. The train had 243 passengers and 12 crew members aboard, an Amtrak spokesperson said.
Two people aboard the train and one person in the dump truck were killed, authorities said. At least 50 people were injured, Fox Kansas City reported.
The University of Missouri hospital in Columbia told Fox News it has received three patients from the derailment. A hospital spokesperson did not have information on the type of injuries they sustained or their conditions.
Multiple patients were taken to hospitals via ambulances and helicopters from various local first responders.
Passenger Amanda Diehl Drinkhard said she heard a crash before the train fell onto its side.
"We heard a big crash and then a big cloud of dirt with a horrible burning oil smell," she told Fox News. "In slow motion the car fell off the rail to the right side. People from across the aisle were falling on top of us. Everyone stayed relatively calm and we managed to push everyone out the top through a broken out window. There were helpful people waiting at the bottom to help down from the car."
Passengers on the train included high school students from Pleasant Ridge High School in Easton, Kansas, who were headed to a Future Business Leaders of America conference in Chicago, Superintendent Tim Beying told The Kansas City Star.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was launching a 14-member "go-team" to investigate the train derailment. The team is expected to arrive at the site Tuesday.
Monday's incident came a day after three people were killed Sunday when an Amtrak commuter train smashed into a car in California.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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