Three people have been killed and at least 50 injured after a train derailed when it hit a dump truck on a crossing in Missouri, police have confirmed.
Shocking pictures taken at the scene by shaken survivors showed eight carriages carrying hundreds of people on its side near the city of Mendon on their side.
The train was travelling between Los Angeles to Chicago when it hit a dustbin lorry parked over the railway lines, at an uncontrolled crossing, causing the locomotive to leave the track.
Three people have died as a result of the crash - two on the train and one in the dump truck - with around 50 injured and rushed to hospital, said Missouri highway patrol spokesman Corporal Justin Dunn.
Passenger Robert Nightingale, who was having a nap on the service when the crash happened, told CNN: “It all happened like slow motion.
"It started to rock and, and rock, and then flicker, and then it just all of a sudden all this dust was through my window.
"It hit something major to cause .... every car to go off."
A spokesman for rail firm Amtrak said there were 243 passengers on the train, with 12 crew members.
Air ambulances in the US confirmed at least eight helicopters carrying injured had already left the scene.
Videos shot by shocked passengers showed them sitting on the side of the derailed carriages as they waited for help.
A spokesman for Amtrak said: "On June 27 at 12:42 p.m. CT, Southwest Chief Train 4, traveling eastbound on BNSF track from Los Angeles to Chicago, derailed 8 cars and 2 locomotives after striking a truck that was obstructing a public crossing near Mendon, Missouri.
"There were approximately 243 passengers and 12 crew members onboard with early reports of injuries. Local authorities are currently assisting customers.
"Our Incident Response Team has been activated, and we are deploying emergency personnel to the scene to help support our passengers, our employees and their families with their needs.
"Individuals with questions about their friends and family who were traveling aboard this train should call 800-523-9101. Additional details will be provided as available."
One of the passengers recorded footage from the accident and said uninjured travellers were taken to a nearby school after the crash.
He wrote: “So thankful for the people here, safely at the Northwestern high school near Mendon. This town pulled together to help everyone.”
The tragedy comes a day after three people were killed when an Amtrak train crashed into a car near Brentwood, California.
The fatal collision happened at about 1pm near the intersection of Orwood Road and Bixler Road, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Authorities say the vehicle, a four-door sedan, had pulled into a long rural dirt driveway when the Amtrak train rammed into it.
The car then careened off the road and hit another vehicle, eventually coming to a rest approximately 60 feet away.
Tragically there have been at least three reported fatalities among the passengers in the car.
