3 Dead, At Least 50 Injured After Packed Amtrak Train Derails In Missouri
Update (1830ET): Missouri State Highway Patrol official confirms 3 people killed in Amtrak train derailment. The fatalities are reportedly two people on the train and the driver of the dump truck that the train struck.
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Update (1730ET): There are multiple fatalities and at least 50 injured following Monday’s Amtrak derailing in Chariton County, Missouri, CNN reports. Three people are being taken to University Hospital in Columbia in unknown condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Oh no..#Amtrak derailment somewhere in #Missouri. @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/Tk0SKvyKv3
— Durand (@Kadingis) June 27, 2022
The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chcago when it struck the dump truck at a crossing near Mendon, MO at 12:42 pm local time, according to the Washington Post, citing Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods.
“It’s horrifying,” said Dax McDonald, a Phoenix-based software engineer who was riding in the second-to-last car when he heard a ‘massive bang’ before lurching forward. “The real insanity happened a second after that. You could see it start to tip.”
The train flipped onto its right side, throwing passengers, including his two sisters, in his direction.
“I basically looked over to see them careening toward me,” he said.
Amid the broken glass and gravel from the tracks, he said, he and others helped a woman who was having a seizure after hitting her head, one of the many serious injuries reported among those on the train. McDonald and his sisters began trying to climb out the train’s windows above them.
“It turns into a giant trap. You have to be able to climb, like rock-climbing,” he said. -WaPo
According to McDonald, one of his sisters was being taken to the hospital for a potential concussion, while other injured passengers were being taken away on stretchers to a local high school.
A view inside the train, nothing graphic pic.twitter.com/i38fgUbxm3
— Dax McDonald (@cloudmarooned) June 27, 2022
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An Amtrak train with 243 passengers derailed near Mendon, Missouri, on Monday, according to CNN. The train hit a dump truck at a public crossing around 1342 CT.
“There are approximately 243 passengers onboard with early reports of injuries,” company officials said. “Local authorities are currently assisting customers, and we have deployed Amtrak resources to assist.”
A passenger told The Daily Beast the derailment appeared to be a “mass casualty event.”
Ron Goulet from Flagstaff, Arizona, said he was uninjured when the train hit a truck and jumped the tracks, resulting in the derailment.
“They’ve got every rescue helicopter and crew here from every direction.
“We are in Chariton County, Missouri. The train toppled over on its side. Every seat was sold out full, and they were packing people into the observation car because they were so full. There are plenty of people on back boards being taken [away] by paramedics,” Goulet said.
The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago at high speeds before the crash.
#Amtrak train 4 was traveling on a straight, high-speed section of track. Its last reported speed on transdocs was 90 MPH five minutes before the crash.
We don’t know if the engineer hit the brakes or had time to slow down, but this was possibly a high-speed impact.
— Jason Rabinowitz (@AirlineFlyer) June 27, 2022
The incident location is Mendon (about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City).
Footage from social media shows the entire train flipped on its side with passengers crawling out.
First video from the crash site.
BREAKING: An #Amtrak train has derailed after hitting a dump truck near Mendon in central Missouri. Amtrak says there were around 243 passengers onboard with “early reports of injuries.”
Video from Rob Nightingale#KAKEnews pic.twitter.com/rB9QP98mkh
— KAKE News (@KAKEnews) June 27, 2022
Tren Amtrak con 243 pasajeros, se descarrila en Missouri…. Cubría la ruta Los Angeles-Chicago…. Balance hasta el momento: 3 muertos y decenas de heridos pic.twitter.com/XSknxx41AT
— Cesar Moreno (@CesarMorenoH) June 27, 2022
There are no confirmed reports of injuries or deaths at the moment.
*Developing…
