Cpl. Justin Dunn, a spokesman for Troop B of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, told reporters that two of the people killed were on board the train while the third was in a dump truck as the train went to hit.
Authorities said the tragic incident happened at an uncontrolled intersection, with no warning lights or moving gates, where a gravel road crossed the railroad tracks southwest of the city.
Amtrak said the train collided with the dump truck on a public crossing near the town of Mendon around 12:42 pm CT (1:42 pm ET).
Eight cars and two locomotives left the road “after hitting a truck blocking a public passage near Mendon, Missouri,” company officials said in an updated statement. Dunn told reporters seven cars had derailed.
Amtrak had previously said there were approximately 243 passengers and 12 crew members on board the train.
According to authorities, a school has become a sorting center for victims with minor injuries.
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Everything was going in slow motion, the passenger said
Robert Nightingale, a passenger with a car bed, said he was taking a nap when he heard something.
“It all happened like slow motion. It started swaying and, and swaying, and then blinking, and all of a sudden, all that dust went through my window,” said Nightingale, who is from Taos , New Mexico. he told CNN.
He said the train fell on the side where his compartment was.
Nightingale, who was not injured, said he could not walk through the window, which was blocked by dirt, so he grabbed his backpack and climbed into the hallway. He then moved to a neighboring room where he found a way out and up next to the train.
He said some people helped others get to the ground where he and others walked in front of the train. He said the truck looked like it had big blocks.
“He hit something important to make … all the cars go off,” he said.
The Boy Scouts help the wounded
Two Boy Scout troops from Appleton, Wisconsin, were on the Amtrak train and were helping the injured, Scott Armstrong, director of national media for Boy Scouts of America, told CNN on Monday.
Armstrong said the train explorers are believed to be between 14 and 17 years old and confirmed none of them were injured. Eight adults were with the troops.
The two troops were returning from a stay at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, Armstrong said.
Second fatal collision in 2 days
Mendon is located about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City. The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago.
Amtrak said people who need immediate help with train information can call or text 1-800-USA-RAIL.
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team of 14 people to the crash site, the agency said in a tweet. The collision was the second in two days in which an Amtrak train crashed into a passenger vehicle. On Sunday, 85 passengers were aboard a train in rural California that crashed into a vehicle. According to authorities, three people died and two were seriously injured. All the victims were in the vehicle, officials added.
CNN’s Andi Babineau contributed to this report.