Multiple casualties were reported after an Amtrak train carrying 243 people derailed when it hit a truck at a public intersection near Kansas City in Missouri.
The Southwest Chief Train 4, which was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago, collided with the truck and came off the tracks at Mendon, Missouri at about 13:42 on Monday afternoon, Amtrak confirmed to DailyMail.com.
There were ‘early reports of injuries’, Amtrak said in a statement, adding that there were 243 passengers on board at the time of the crash.
Shocking photos taken in the immediate aftermath show a female passenger being rescued from a broken window while others were seen on top of overturned cars.
Local emergency personnel responded to the scene.
Shocking photos taken in the immediate aftermath show a female passenger being rescued from a broken window while others were seen on top of overturned cars.
Survivors of an Amtrak crash in Missouri shared a photo of themselves on top of the overturned train
A broken truck axle was broken in the aftermath near the track
Journalist Nylah Burton, who was on a separate Amtrak train set to leave Albuquerque, says she was informed of the possible deaths and injuries by a staff member who got into her car to announce a delay caused by the incident is.
She tweeted: “An @Amtrak train has just derailed in Kansas City (there are probably deaths, but they do not know all the details) so I’m stuck in Albuquerque tonight because the train can’t go any further.”
A Twitter user named Durand shared the shocking photos, saying, “Oh no .. #Amtrak derailment somewhere in #Missouri.”
One of the passengers on the train tweeted several images of the derailment and then posted that they were hiding at a local high school in Mendon, Missouri.
“So grateful to the people here, safe at Northwestern High School near Mendon,” Dax McDonald tweeted. “This town has come together to help everyone.”
Amtrak confirmed to DailyMail.com that multiple injuries had been reported, but no further details were released.
Amtrak tweeted that the Southwest Chief Train 3, which was to depart from Chicago, had been canceled. Amtrak asks passengers to contact 1-800-USA-RAIL for further assistance.
Mendon is about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City, Missouri.
Passengers stand on top of a derailed Amtrak train after it collided with a dump truck at a public intersection in Missouri on Monday afternoon
The derailment comes one day after another Amtrak train collided with a car at an intersection in Brentwood, California on Sunday afternoon, killing three women and injuring several others.
Three women, all over 50, were pronounced dead at the scene in Sunday’s crash, according to The Mercury News.
Authorities say the car pulled into a long rural driveway near the intersection of Orwood Road and Bixler Road around 1 p.m. when the Amtrak train crashed into it.
The car then drove off the road and hit another vehicle.
A child and two men were also admitted to hospital with serious injuries, and another person sustained moderate injuries.
In total, a BNSF Railway spokesman told the New York Times that “about” five people were injured, although the number is still in dispute.
On Sunday, three women were killed and four others injured when an Amtrak train crashed into a car at about 1 p.m. in Brentwood, California. About 24 hours later, another Amtrak train derailed, this time in Missouri, and multiple injuries were reported.
Authorities say the car hit the road after the impact and hit another vehicle
Those seriously injured were rushed to John Muir Medical Center Sunday afternoon, according to ABC News. One of the adults was transported by air and the child was transported by land, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
The victims were all in the four-door sedan when it was hit, officials said, and Battalion Chief Craig Auzenne, of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District, told reporters at the scene that none of the 81 passengers or five crew members on board the train were injured. .
In fact, he said, the train came to a halt about a quarter of a mile from where the sedan got stuck in a sports utility vehicle.
An investigation into the accident continues.
But East Contra Costa Firefighters say they were called to that train crossing twice last year because it did not have a traffic guard.
“It’s a bad intersection,” said Steve Aubert, a firefighter, noting that trains were traveling at about 80 mph on the tracks.
“Unfortunately, this is just a recipe for disaster.”