INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Distraught family members a day after an accident that left 20 people dead
deadly transportation accident in the United States for nearly a decade.All 18 occupants of the SUV-style stretch limo died along with two
pedestrians on Saturday afternoon in upstate New York, police deputy superintendent Christopher Fiore told a news conference.He said the
2001 Ford Excursion had failed to stop at an intersection and continued into a parking lot, ultimately crashing into a parked car
Investigators have not yet established if the victims were wearing seatbelts."Twenty fatalities is horrific This is one of the biggest
losses of lives that we have seen in a long, long time," added National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chairman Robert Sumwalt."This is
the most deadly transportation accident in the country since February of 2009," he added -- referring to the Colgan Air Flight crash from
New Jersey to New York, which killed 49.Pictures posted on Twitter by Jesse McKinley, the Albany bureau chief for the New York Times, showed
a hair brush and a fragment of tail light in the grass at the side of the road, in the aftermath
Deep muddy tire tracks disappeared into woodland beyond.The tragedy unfolded outside the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe in the town of
Schoharie, southwest of the state capital Albany and a three-hour drive north of New York City."That limo was coming down that hill probably
over 60 mph I don't want to describe the scene
It's not something I want to think about," manager Jessica Kirby was quoted as saying.The Columbus Day weekend is the busiest of the year
for the store, Kirby told the paper, noting that it was full of customers from New York City, New Jersey and Albany at the time of the
wedding reception, although this was not confirmed by police."This is terrible, terrible, terrible," he told the Times Union."I heard some
It looked serious because people were running back and forth," a witness identified as Bridey Finegan told local NBC affiliate WNYT.Road
latest year with available figures, crashes on the state's highways resulted in $808.1 million in hospitalization and emergency department
charges, the Department of Health says on its website.The Apple Barrel, a popular stop for tourists viewing fall foliage in the area, posted
a message on its Facebook page lamenting the "horrific accident."It said it would be open for business on Sunday and "hope you will come and
share your smiles, love, friendship and hugs with us."(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent
staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
