At least three people were killed and dozens more injured after an Amtrak train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago with 243 passengers aboard struck a dump truck and derailed in rural Missouri on Monday, authorities said, the second major incident in two days for the passenger railroad service.

Several cars of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief train came off the tracks after colliding with a dump truck at 12:42 p.m. in Mendon, about three hours northwest of St. Louis, Amtrak announced in a statement. Seven of the train's eight cars derailed, said Cpl. Justin Dunn, public information officer at Missouri State Highway Patrol, at a Monday news conference. 

Dunn confirmed two people died on the train and one died in the truck. 

Lt. Eric Brown of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said he had “no idea on the number of injured at this point," but hospitals reported receiving more than 40 patients from the crash and were expecting more.

The crash occurred at an "uncontrolled intersection" on a gravel road without lights or electronic controls, Brown told reporters. "A lot of your rural intersections are that way," he said.