At least 3 people dead in U.S. Missouri Amtrak crash

At least three people were killed following an Amtrak passenger train derailment after the train struck a dump truck in the U.S. state of Missouri Monday afternoon, U.S. media reported, citing the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The Amtrak train, with 243 passengers and 12 crew members aboard, hit a truck that was obstructing a public crossing near Mendon, Missouri, when it was traveling eastbound from Los Angeles to Chicago, the Washington, D.C.-headquartered passenger railroad service company said in a statement.

Eight cars and two locomotives were derailed, according to the statement.

Local authorities were assisting the passengers and an Amtrak incident response team had been activated, the company said.

"We are deploying emergency personnel to the scene to help support our passengers, our employees and their families with their needs," the statement added.

Governor Mike Parson of Missouri tweeted they were "saddened to hear of the Amtrak train derailment in Chariton County this afternoon."

Emergency management personnel were responding, wrote Parson, while asking "Missourians to join us in praying for all those impacted."

The Missouri State Highway Patrol tweeted numerous agencies had responded to an injury traffic crash involving "a train & a dump truck" southwest of Mendon in Chariton County.

"Local & surrounding agencies are on scene providing mutual aid assistance," it reported.

The derailment in Missouri occurred just a day after an Amtrak train collided with a car in Brentwood, California, killing three people and injuring two others.

Amtrak provides medium and long-distance inter-city rail service in the contiguous United States and to nine cities in Canada.

In the last decade, Amtrak has averaged 24 derailments annually, according to data reported to the Federal Railroad Administration, an agency under the U.S. Department of Transportation.