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AMSTERDAM, N.Y. – A ceremony for the victims of the limo accident that killed 20 people ended with the candles being lifted over the participants' heads to mark the unit and perseverance. More than 1,000 people blocked a river-side park in Amsterdam, New York, for Monday evening's vigil as relatives of the victims were trying to cope with the tragedy that occurred when a group of Friends and family members were preparing for their 30th birthday party.
"Tears flowed and embraces were tense, while 20 lives were killed in a terrible accident, was honored," reports CBS Albany, affiliate of N. Y., WRGB-TV.
"Everyone knew someone, some knew a few, I knew almost everyone," said Chris Lanzi on the channel.
The giant limousine launched a stop sign and struck an SUV parked Saturday in Schoharie, New York state, authorities said.
They still have not told how fast the limousine was going or determine why it failed to stop and left the road at the bottom 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 parents shed tears when a woman sang "Amazing Grace". The ceremony ended with the raising of candles above everyone's head.
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.
The aunt of the four sisters, Barbara Douglas, said she felt "to have acted responsibly by being a limousine 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 limousine driver has been identified as Scott Lisinicchia,
"The investigation is still going on and the facts are not verified," wrote his niece, Courtney Lisinicchia, on Facebook.
The mourners are holding lighted candles at the end of the vigil of 8 October 2018 in Amsterdam, N.Y., for 20 people who died in a limousine on 6 October 2018, in an accident in Schoharie, N.Y.
WCBS-TV
The state decided to close the owner, Prestige Limousine, while federal and US authorities were investigating the cause of Saturday's wreck in Schoharie. The company said that it was pulling its cars off the road while conducting its own investigation of the accident.
Investigators plan to examine the data loggers and mechanical systems of the mutilated limousine, as well as the road, which has a history as a danger point. 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, Cuomo said: The driver did not have the necessary commercial license, and the vehicle failed during a state inspection covering items such as 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 at a Columbus Day parade in New York. "Prestige has a lot of questions to answer."
He also stated that the limousine – built by separating a robust SUV and extending it – was created without federal certification, although NTSB officials said they have not yet determined whether 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 due to defective brakes, lack of proper emergency exits, flat or deflated 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.
Debris scatters an area on Sunday, October 7, 2018 on the site of the deadly crash of yesterday, Schoharie, New York.
Hans Pennink / AP
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 2001 Ford Excursion, triggered a stop at a T-shaped intersection located at the bottom of a hill and struck an unoccupied sport utility vehicle, investigators said.
The authorities 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 appeared to be the deadliest land vehicle accident in the United States since a busload of Texas retirement home patients fleeing Hurricane Rita from 2005 caught fire , killing 23 people. The Saturday wreck was supposed to be the country's deadliest transport accident since 2009 crash near Buffalo, New York, killing 50 people.
Factory-made limousines must comply with strict safety rules. However, luxury cars converted to limousines, such as the one on Saturday, 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 that outside companies were modifying them to Ford specifications for up to 14 seats during the 2001 model year, but it was unclear who had modified the SUV that had crashed on Saturday.
After sacking a limousine on New York's Long Island in 2015, killing four women, a special grand jury implored Cuomo to consider the safety of these vehicles.
It seems that the working group was never formed and almost three years after the recommendation of the grand jury, it was difficult to know what the administration of Cuomo would have done in response.
"I do not know if a working group has been set up," said the governor Monday, while suggesting that Saturday's accident did not necessarily indicate the need for 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.
