3 Dead, Scores Injured in Amtrak Derailment in MO

CNN is reporting that three people are dead and at least 50 injured after an Amtrak train derailed Monday in Missouri.

Cpl. Justin Dunn, a spokesperson for Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop B, provided the update Monday evening.

According to a statement by the passenger rail company,  the train struck a dump truck at a public crossing near the city of Mendon at about 1:42 p.m. CT.

Dunn said that authorities are still trying to ascertain the exact number of fatalities.

Two of the people who were killed were aboard the train while the third was in the truck, Dunn said at a press conference.

A school has been turned into a triage center for victims with minor injuries, he said.

"There are approximately 243 passengers onboard with early reports of injuries," company officials said earlier. "Local authorities are currently assisting customers and we have deployed Amtrak resources to assist."

Chillicothe Fire Department Chief Eric Reeter confirmed the derailment to CNN and said his department is on standby should authorities need them to assist.    

Mendon is about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City. The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago.

CNN says the collision was the second in two days in which an Amtrak train hit a passenger vehicle.

On Sunday, 85 passengers were on board a train in rural California that hit a vehicle.

Three people were killed and two people suffered major injuries, according to officials.

All of the victims were in the vehicle, the officials added.

New video shot by pssenger Rob Nightengale from the scene has been posted on YouTube.

Nightingale told CNN that he was taking a nap when he heard something.

"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," Nightingale, who is from Taos, New Mexico, told CNN.

He said the train fell over on the side that his compartment was on.

Nightingale, who was not injured, said he couldn't get through the window, which was blocked by dirt, so he grabbed his backpack and climbed into the hallway.

Then he moved into a neighboring room where he found a way to climb out and onto the side of the train.