Horror crash kills 20

THE site of a devastating accident that killed two pedestrians and 18 occupants of a limousine headed to a birthday party, including four sisters, is a known danger spot that has long worried locals, according to a manager of the store that sits at the intersection where the accident happened.

The intersection had been redone in 2008 because of a fatal accident there, said Jessica Kirby, managing director of the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe, an institution in Schoharie and for the legions of leaf-peepers who take to the roads of upstate New York each autumn. Since the reconstruction, three tractor-trailers have run through the same stop sign authorities said the limo blew through and into a field behind her business, Ms Kirby said. Officials worked with the state to outlaw heavy trucks, she said, but there were still accidents.

“More accidents than I can count,” she said in an email. “We have been asking for something to be done for years.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement on Sunday saying he has “directed state agencies to provide every resource necessary to aid in this investigation”.

Post mortems were being performed; authorities didn’t say whether the limo occupants were wearing seat belts or what speed it was travelling at.

Relatives said the limousine was carrying four sisters and their friends to a 30th birthday celebration for the youngest.

“They did the responsible thing getting a limo so they wouldn’t have to drive anywhere,” their aunt, Barbara Douglas, said. The 2001 Ford Excursion limousine failed to stop at a T-junction, police said, and went across the road and hit an unoccupied, parked SUV and two pedestrians.