Chicago: Several carriages from the Amtrak Empire Builder passenger service derailed at about 16:00 local time (22:00 GMT) near the town of Joplin.
Images on social media show train cars on their sides and luggage was strewn on the ground with people standing nearby.
Amtrak said there were some 141 passengers and 16 crew aboard the Chicago to Seattle service.
Passenger Megan Vandervest, who was heading to see a friend in Seattle, told the New York Times she was woken up by the derailment, which felt like “extreme turbulence on a plane.”
Wayne Freed said that he was in the lounge car, one of those that flipped on its side, but was able to grab hold of a coffee table bolted to the floor.
“I just held onto that, and my legs were dangling down below and the windows broke out down below and which is how we eventually escaped after the train stopped,” he told.
“But I’d hate to think what would happen if I hadn’t been able to hold onto my table.”
