An Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed after colliding with a dump truck in Missouri on Monday afternoon — leaving at least three people dead and dozens injured.
The train crashed into a dump truck at a public railroad crossing in Mendon, Missouri, 100 miles east of Kansas City, at 1:42 p.m. local time, Amtrak said in a statement.
The collision happened at an “uncontrolled crossing” with no lights or electronic devices, said Cpl. Justin Dunn of the Missouri State Highway Patrol at a press conference.
The dead included two people inside the train and one inside the dump truck, he said.
Amtrak said 243 passengers and 12 crew members were onboard.
Seven of eight cars derailed, Dunn said.
Eric McKenzie, the superintendent with Charlton County Ambulance Service, told CNN that there were multiple fatalities and that at least 50 people were injured.
Officials at the press conference couldn’t say how many people were hurt.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said it was too early to know why the truck was on the tracks.
She noted trains won’t be able to run on those tracks for days as evidence is gathered. A team of NTSB investigators are expected to arrive Tuesday.
Boy Scouts aboard the train rendered aid to victims, including the driver of the dump truck, Scott Armstrong, director of national media relations for the Boy Scouts of America told the AP.
There were 16 Boy Scouts and eight adults part of two troops traveling back home to Appleton, Wisconsin, following a backcountry excursion in New Mexico, Armstrong said. He said no one in the two troops were seriously injured.
Dan Skrypczak Appleton Troop 73 Scout Master, told Local 5 in Green Bay most of the scouts on the train had their emergency preparedness merit badge and first-aid merit badge.
One scout was even stuck in the bathroom when the derailment occurred, he said.
“Our kids were in various spots of the train. Some were in the dining hall, some were in the gallery, and some were in their seats when it derailed. We had a number of kids with some injuries,” Skrypczak told Local 5. “We had one young man trapped in the lavatory for thirty minutes before he could get out.”
Rider Ron Goulet of Flagstaff, Arizona, said he suspected the collision was a “mass casualty event” in an interview with The Daily Beast.
“Every seat was sold out full, and they were packing people into the observation car because they were so full,” Goulet told the outlet as he rode in a bus carrying survivors to a local school for shelter. “There are plenty of people on back boards being taken [away] by paramedics.”
Goulet added, “There are no doubt people still trapped on that train. They’re starting to cut it apart now.”
Passenger Robert Nightingale was about to fall asleep when the train hit the truck.
“Everything started to go in slow motion,” he told CNN, describing how the train rocked before tumbling onto its side.
He escaped by climbing out the side of the rail car.
“We all just sat there shocked,” said Nightingale, a New Mexico art gallery owner.
A representative University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia said three people from the crash were being treated at the facility.
Photos of the crash scene showed several train cars turned over alongside the tracks — and several people splayed out on the train’s upright side.
The crash marked Amtrak’s second derailment in two days after a train collided with a car in California, killing three people.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted Monday evening the Federal Railroad Administration was on the way to Missouri.
“Saddened by the tragic loss of life and injuries in the Missouri train derailment today & Northern California collision over the weekend,” he said. “I have been kept updated & my team is in touch with Amtrak & relevant authorities.”
With Post wires
