ICYMI – An Amtrak train traveling to Chicago derailed after colliding with a dump truck, which left several passengers injured.
According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the collision occurred around 12:40 p.m. Central Time near Mendon, a town about 115 miles northeast of Kansas City.
The train, having originally departed from Los Angeles, was carrying 243 passengers and 12 crew members.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol posted on Twitter stating that eight cars were derailed and several agencies were responding to the scene.
The MSHP & numerous other agencies have responded to an injury traffic crash involving a train & a dump truck southwest of Mendon, MO in Chariton County. Approximately 8 train cars have derailed. Local & surrounding agencies are on scene providing mutual aid assistance. https://t.co/QQc2RdXZNG
— MSHP Troop B (@MSHPTrooperB) June 27, 2022
Injured passengers were transported to nearby hospitals while others were send to a local high school by bus.
“Photographs and videos appeared to show multiple cars turned on their side with passengers sitting on top, and another video appeared to show passengers comforting each other from the inside of an overturned train car,” per CBS News.
The train I was traveling on derailed on the way to Iowa near Mendon Missouri pic.twitter.com/YndSEEXkto
— Dax McDonald (@cloudmarooned) June 27, 2022
“We do believe there could be some fatalities, but again, it’s way early on in getting information,” said Governor Mike Parson in a statement, per the Kansas City Star. “Right now, our thoughts and prayers are for the people that were on that train, the family, the rescue people. But a lot of things have to take place right now. So we’re monitoring as we go, but it’s a bad thing.”
Congressman Sam Graves said he was “closely monitoring” the collision and “praying for all involved.”
Reportedly, emergency personnel called for a mass casualty trailer in a dispatch after the crash.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources labelled the derailment a “large fatality event” and was standing by for possible environmental problems.
The train was traveling at a speed of about 90 mph at the time of the collision.
Amtrak later confirmed in a statement that its Southwest Chief Train 4 had hit a truck that was on a public crossing.
“Local authorities are currently assisting customers,” the company said. “Our Incident Response Team has been activated, and we are deploying emergency personnel to the scene to help support our passengers, our employees and their families with their needs.”
A hotline was offered to those with friends or family that were traveling on the train.
There have been 24 derailed Amtrak trains in the past decade. The Washington Post reported that this was a significant reduction from the number of derailments the company reported in the prior decade.
“Monday’s derailment marks the second consecutive day an Amtrak train was involved in a serious crash,” reports NBC News. “Three people were killed and two others injured after an Amtrak train crashed into a vehicle obstructing rail tracks near Brentwood, California”.
