The crash triggered the collapse of a highway overpass, injuring five drivers.
Two freight trains collided at a rail intersection in Missouri on Saturday, triggering the collapse of a highway overpass when several rail cars derailed and struck a support pillar, a county sheriff's dispatcher said.
Seven people were hurt, including five in cars on the two-lane overpass near southeastern Missouri town of Chaffee and the conductors of the two trains, Scott County Sheriff's dispatcher Clay Slipis said.
"One train T-boned the other one and caused it to derail, and the derailed train hit a pillar which caused the overpass to collapse," Slipis said of the pre-dawn crash.
The crash, which involved BNSF Railway Co and Union Pacific trains, also sparked a fire when diesel fuel leaked from one of the train engines, Slipis said.
The crash came just over a week after a commuter train derailed in Connecticut, striking another train and injuring more than 70 people during the evening rush hour.
On Thursday, a truck crash caused the collapse of a bridge in Washington state, sending two cars plunging into the Skagit River. Three people were rescued.
Authorities said that officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were on their way to Missouri to investigate the train crash. Neither BNSF or Union Pacific officials could immediately be reached for comment.