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 near Chaffee, about 15 miles southwest of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

[link to my.chicagotribune.com]