20 killed after ‘birthday party’ limousine crashes in New York state
Twenty people have been killed after a limousine taking people to a birthday party went past a stop sign at the end of a New York state highway and ploughed into a parked car.
All 18 people in the limo and two pedestrians died in the deadliest road accident in the United States in almost a decade, officials said.
Valerie Abeling, the aunt of one of the victims, said the vehicle was on its way to a birthday celebration, and newlyweds Erin Vertucci and Shane McGowan were among those killed.
She said her daughter had been invited along but was unable to go and that “our lives have been changed forever”.
The collision turned a relaxed Saturday afternoon into chaos at an upstate New York spot popular with tourists taking in the autumn foliage.
The 2001 Ford Excursion limousine was travelling south west on Route 30 in Schoharie, about 170 miles north of New York City at around 2pm when it failed to stop at a T-junction, police said.
It went across the road and hit an unoccupied vehicle parked at the Apple Barrel Country Store, killing the driver and 17 passengers, as well as two people outside the vehicle.
The crash “sounded like an explosion,” said Linda Riley, of nearby Schenectady, who was on a shopping trip with her sisters and had been in their parked car at the time at the store.
When she got out of her vehicle, she saw a body on the ground and broken tree branches everywhere, she said.
The store manager, Jessica Kirby, told The New York Times that the limo was coming down a hill at “probably over 60mph”.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, the store thanked emergency responders for their actions. The store posted on Sunday that it was open “and could use your hugs”.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, said chairman Robert Sumwalt.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said: “My heart breaks for the 20 people who lost their lives in this horrific accident on Saturday in Schoharie.
“I commend the first responders who arrived on the scene and worked through the night to help.
“State police are working with federal and local authorities to investigate the crash, and I have directed state agencies to provide every resource necessary to aid in this investigation and determine what led to this tragedy.”
A crash involving a limousine at a popular tourist location in upstate New York has left 20 people dead.
Reports suggest a limo speeding down a hill crashed into bystanders at the Apple Barrel Country Store in Schoharie, about 170 miles north of New York City.
The store is a popular spot for people looking at autumn leaves.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating
