Several people have been killed when a passenger train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago derailed on Monday in Missouri, in the central United States, after colliding with a truck blocking a public crossing, the company said in a statement.
At least 50 people on board were injured and there is already talk of several deaths, he told CNN, Eric McKenzie, the superintendent of the Chariton County Ambulance Service.
The company said the Amtrak Southwest Chief was carrying about 243 passengers and 12 crew members when the collision occurred near Mendon at 1:42 pm, adding that eight railcars and two locomotives were derailed.
The images from a helicopter shown by KMBC-TV From the scene of the accident they showed overturned train cars while the emergency services used stairs to climb one of them. The video also showed six medical helicopters parked nearby waiting to transport the wounded.
Three passengers were taken to Columbia University Hospital, hospital spokesman Eric Maze said. He had no information about their conditions.
* Some of the information for this report came from AP and Reuters.
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