The Missouri Department of Transportation plan released this year pointed to the need to improve safety at the railroad crossing where an Amtrak train collided with a dump truck, resulting in the deaths of four passengers and the truck driver.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol announced the fourth death Tuesday afternoon and provided its initial estimate of the injured - about 150 people were taken to 10 area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious.

The deceased have not been identified, and the crossing in a rural area near Mendon in western Missouri, about 84 miles (135 kilometers) northeast of Kansas City, has no lights or other signals warning of an approaching train.

The Amtrak train was heading from Los Angeles to Chicago Monday afternoon when it collided with the truck and derailed at the crossing.

Officials at Amtrak said about 275 passengers and 12 crew members were on board the train. According to Missouri State Highway Patrol, the collision caused seven cars to derail.

The truck was smashed to pieces, and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were at the scene Tuesday, trying to determine how the accident happened and why the truck was on the tracks.

The Missouri Department of Transportation submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration the "State Freight and Rail Plan."

It included a list of proposed improvements, including installing lights and gates, alongside road improvements. The project was estimated at about $400,000.

The federal government will pay 80 percent and the county 20 percent. MoDOT spokeswoman Linda Horn said in an email any project must be coordinated with the track owner, BNSF Railway, and the county "on a very limited funding basis."

BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said if the state wants an upgrade, the next step is a site review.

Kent said: "We will work with all stakeholders to determine if additional warning devices are needed and then work to design, build, and install them."

Local residents have complained that overgrown vegetation and the steep slope from the road to the tracks make it difficult to see trains coming from either direction.

Mike Spencer, who grows corn and soybeans in the lands surrounding the crossing, said the crossing is especially dangerous for those driving heavy, slow agricultural equipment.

Spencer said he contacted state transportation officials, Chariton County commissioners, and BNSF about the potential hazard.

Earlier this month, Spencer posted a video on Facebook about the crossing showing the steep gravel slope leading to it.

This was the second Amtrak collision in several days. Three people were killed Sunday afternoon when their car was hit by an Amtrak passenger train in Northern California, authorities said.

People were injured in at least six other Amtrak-related incidents since 2015.

Last year, three people were killed and others injured when an Amtrak train derailed in north-central Montana while traveling from Chicago to Seattle.

Amtrak is a federally supported company operating more than 300 passenger trains daily across every contiguous U.S. state and parts of Canada.