Approximately 243 passengers were on board an Amtrak train Monday when it derailed in Western Missouri.
The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it apparently struck a dump truck at a public crossing.
One passenger, Robert Nightingale, told CNN Newsroom that he was trying to take a nap when the train derailed and landed on its side.
“I was in my sleeper and I was dozing off. The train was running a bit late so I decided to take a nap before my lunch reservation.” Nightingale said. “And then everything started to go in slow motion. Like I could feel the tracks go back and forth, back and forth.”
After the train came to a halt, Nightingale told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota that he and other passengers climbed out of the train and onto the roof.
“I got myself together. Grabbed my backpack and my computer and opened up my door and climbed into the hallway and then climbed up into the room that was next to me, which was now above me. And then I saw an opening and a family getting out. And then I got out and then I sat on the roof,” he said.
When asked if he knew if anyone was killed, Nightingale told CNN, “I don’t know. Except for the gentleman that was driving the cement truck or whatever… his wife came running up to the scene. She wanted to see him, and they said ‘no,’ and that was that.”