Hundreds of people attend a vigil to pay tribute to 20 victims of a limousine accident

AMSTERDAM, NY – A ceremony for victims of the limousine accident that killed 20 people ended with the raising of candles above the participants' heads to mark the unit and the perseverance.

More than 1,000 people blocked a waterfront park in Amsterdam, New York, for Monday night vigil as relatives of the victims tried to cope with the tragedy that occurred when a group of friends and members from their families were preparing for their 30th birthday party.

The giant limousine launched a stop sign and struck an SUV parked on Saturday at Schoharie.

The authorities have not yet specified the speed with which the limousine was going or the reason why it failed to stop and left the road at the foot of a long hill. .

The 19-seater vehicle had at least some seatbelts, but it was unclear if anyone would wear them, said National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt.

The accident, located about 170 miles north of New York, occurred three years after another deadly limousine-limousine wreck in New York State prompted Governor Andrew Cuomo to review the safety of these vehicles. vehicles. There is no evidence that the state has taken steps to do so.

Some relatives of the dead shed tears when local officials expressed their solidarity with them.

The American representative Paul Tonko, a Democrat in Amsterdam, told a crowd that was spilled on a bridge spanning the Mohawk River: "We are crushed with you, we are crushed for you."

Some family members shed tears when a woman sang "Amazing Grace." The ceremony ended with the raising of candles above their heads.

The wreck killed two pedestrians and the 18 people in the limousine, including four sisters who went with friends and relatives to a brewery for a party for one of the sisters.

Barbara aunt of the four sisters said that she felt "to have had the responsibility of taking a limo so she would not have to drive anywhere".

"My heart is deep. It's in a place where I've never felt that kind of pain before, "said Karina Halse, who lost her sister Amanda, 26.

The authorities did not reveal the driver's name, but his friends and family identified him on social media as Scott Lisinicchia.

"The investigation is still going on and the facts are not verified," wrote his niece, Courtney Lisinicchia, on Facebook.

The state decided to close the owner, Prestige Limousine, while national and federal authorities were investigating the cause of Saturday's wreck at Schoharie. The company said that it was pulling its cars off the road while conducting its own investigation of the accident.

The investigators plan to examine the data loggers and mechanical systems of the mutilated limousine, as well as the road, which has always been considered a danger zone. They also review the driver's file and qualifications and conduct an autopsy to determine if drugs or alcohol were factors.

But officials have already seen red flags, said Cuomo: The driver did not have the necessary commercial license and the vehicle was not inspected by the state, which notably examined the chassis, suspension and brakes .

"In my opinion, the owner of this company had no reason to put a vehicle down on the road," said the governor during a parade at the Columbus Day parade in New York. "Prestige has a lot of questions to answer."

He also said that the limousine – built by separating a robust SUV and extending it – was created without federal certification, although NTSB officials said they had not yet determined if the vehicle meets federal standards.

Prestige Limousine issued a statement on Monday in which it expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and declared that it was conducting "a thorough internal investigation" while meeting the state and federal authorities.

The company based in Gansevoort, New York, said it has voluntarily withdrawn its cars from the road. But state police said they seized four cars from the Prestige, including the one that crashed.

Federal records show that the company has had five inspections in the past two years and four vehicles have been removed from service.

During the September 4 inspections, the company's limousines were cited for defective brakes, adequate emergency exits, flat tires, defective windshield wipers, and other maintenance issues.

Federal transport records indicate that Prestige belongs to Shahed Hussain, who worked as an informant for the FBI after the September 11 attacks, infiltrating Muslim groups posing as a terrorist in at least three investigations. In one case, he helped convict men accused of conspiracy to bomb New York synagogues.

His role in the FBI was assaulted by civil liberties groups, who accused him of helping the FBI trap people. Asked Monday on Hussain, the FBI did not want to comment.

The limousine, built from a Ford Excursion of 2001, mounted a stop sign at a T-shaped intersection located at the bottom of a hill and struck an unoccupied SUV.

The investigators have not yet determined whether the driver has attempted to brake. The accident left no visible trace of skidding, but that could be due to foggy weather or anti-lock brakes, said Sumwalt.

The accident seemed to be the deadliest in the United States since a bus carrying patients to Texas retirement homes fleeing Hurricane Rita in 2005 had caught fire and killed 23 people. Buffalo, New York, killed 50 people.

Factory-made limousines must comply with strict safety rules. However, luxury cars converted to limousines, such as those on Saturdays, often lack safety features such as side airbags, reinforced anti-rollover protection bars and accessible emergency exits.

Few federal regulations govern modified limousines after leaving the factory. Regulations often vary from state to state.

"It's definitely the Wild West limousines and stretched vehicles," said National Security Council CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman.

Ford said in a statement that he had never made his own extensible version of the Excursion. He was certifying outside companies to modify them to Ford specifications for up to 14 seats in the 2001 model year, but it was unclear who modified the SUV that crashed on Saturday.

After the limousine lying on the Long Island in New York in 2015, killing four women, a special grand jury implored Cuomo to examine the safety of these vehicles.

It appears that the task force was never formed and, almost three years after the grand jury's recommendation, it was unclear what the Cuomo administration had done to respond.

"I do not know if a working group has been set up," the governor said on Monday, while suggesting that Saturday's crash did not necessarily require increased regulation.

"Sometimes people just do not respect the law" that already exists, he said. "And that's maybe what happened here."

The New York Grand Jury Report recommended that state legislators require stretch limousines that can accommodate nine or more passengers to comply with the stricter bus inspection rules.

Legislators, including Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, asked the federal authorities several years ago to raise the safety standards for modified stretch limousines after manufacturing.

Caserta reported from New York. Associated Press editors Michael Balsamo, Jennifer Peltz and Jim Mustian in New York; Mary Esch in Latham, N.Y .; David Klepper in Albany, N.Y .; and AP Auto Writer, Tom Krisher, Detroit.