This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Four people are dead and dozens more injured after an Amtrak train derailed near Mendon, Missouri — about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City.
Seven cars and two locomotives left the rails after hitting a dump truck at a public crossing, according to Amtrak. The Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed three people died Monday, including the driver of the dump truck. On Tuesday, MSHP confirmed a fourth death — a passenger who died at University Hospital in Columbia. Approximately 150 people were transported from the scene to 10 area hospitals to be treated for minor to serious injuries.
The Southwest Chief left from Kansas City Monday morning on a trip that had started in Los Angeles and was headed to Chicago with about 275 passengers and 12 crew members.
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
The accident happened at a public crossing in Mendon. According to Eric Brown, a lieutenant with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crossing was uncontrolled and did not have lights or a stop arm to warn of an oncoming train.
“It's an uncontrolled crossbuck intersection on a gravel road. So no lights, no electronic control devices, things such as that,” Brown said. “A lot of your rural intersections are that way.”
At an appearance in Kansas City, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said they were closely monitoring the situation.
“We're just getting initial information in like, like most of you here, you know, it's, it's a terrible situation,” Parson said. “Anytime you have a derailment of a train and multiple cars, it's not a good day. So, you know, right now our thoughts and prayers are with the people that were on that train, the family, the rescue people.”
Passengers were bused to Mendon High School.
Medical helicopters transported injured passengers to trauma centers in Kansas City and Columbia, Missouri, according to the Washington Post.
"Things were tossed everywhere," said Jae Han Bernardo, who was heading home to Chicago from Los Angeles when the collision woke him.
"Once we came to a stop, it was just trying to gather our bearings, trying to access what just happened," Bernardo told KCUR.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet that it is sending a 14-person team to investigate the incident.
The Sheridan, Lynn and Randolph counties sheriffs offices; Brookfield and Macon police departments; the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri State Park Rangers, Missouri State Fire Marshals; and ambulances from Sheridan, Lynn, Randolph, Livingston, Macon, Howard, Carol and Caldwell counties all assisted with rescue efforts.
The Midwest Newsroom's Daniel Wheaton designed the map included in this report.
