(CNN) --
Several people were injured when an Amtrak train derailed in Missouri, according to the passenger rail company.
The company said the train hit a dump truck at a public intersection near the town of Mendon at around 1:42 p.m. local time.
"There are approximately 243 passengers on board with initial reports of injuries," company officials said in a statement.
"Local authorities are currently assisting customers and we have deployed Amtrak resources to help."
Three people are being taken to Columbia University Hospital, according to a hospital spokesperson.
The conditions of the patients are unknown.
Everything was in slow motion, said the passenger
Robert Nightingale, a passenger with a sleeping car, said he was taking a nap when he heard something.
"It all happened like in slow motion. It started rocking, and rocking, and then it flickered, and then all of a sudden all this dust came through my window," Nightingale, who is from Taos, New Mexico, told CNN.
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He said the train fell on the side his compartment was on.
Nightingale, who was not injured, said he couldn't get through the window, which was blocked by dirt, so he grabbed his backpack and went out into the hallway.
He then moved to a neighboring compartment where he found a way out and climbed onto the side of the train.
He said some people helped others to the ground where he and others walked to the front of the train.
He said it looked like the truck had large rocks in it.
"He hit something important to cause ... all the cars to go off the rails," he said.
Mendon is about 100 miles northeast of Kansas City.
The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago.
Amtrak said people who need immediate assistance with train information can call or text 1-800-USA-RAIL.
The collision was the second in two days in which an Amtrak train collided with a passenger vehicle.
On Sunday, 85 passengers were aboard a train in rural California that collided with a vehicle.
Three people died and two people suffered serious injuries, according to authorities.
All of the victims were in the vehicle, officials added.
CNN's Amy Simonon and Andi Babineau contributed to this report.
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