The limousine was carrying a wedding party when it collided with another vehicle outside the Apple Barrel Country Store in Schoharie (skoh-HAY'-ree), NY, on Saturday afternoon, according to local reports.
It is not clear how many of the victims were in the vehicles that crashed and how many were bystanders. The Apple Barrel's parking lot, a popular spot for autumn leaf-peepers, was filled with people and parked cars at the time of the crash.
State police said in a statement that "the names of the victims are not being released at this time as next of kin are being notified," and a news conference is planned for Sunday afternoon.
In a note posted to its Facebook page, Apple Barrel said it would remain open on Sunday and would be collecting donations for volunteer services who first responded to the crash.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone that was affected by the events of today," the post said, adding that "You will always be part of our family."
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigates all major civilian transportation accidents, said that it had sent a "go-team" to the crash site to assist with investigations.
The disaster is one of the worst fatal car accidents in recent memory in the area and the worst transportation disaster to hit the Capital Region since the 2005 sinking of the Ethan Allen tour boat on Lake George, NY, which also killed 20 people.
Reader Comments
Like the TimesUnion bit :" A man who arrived at the crash scene Sunday said the group was traveling south to a wedding reception when the limo sped through an intersection and slammed into an embankment"
A man (unidentified) arrived at the crash scene, which would imply that he got there after the accident happened. So how the hell would he know what happened? He wasn't a witness. Is he Farmer Joe who lives down the road? And what group is he referring to? A group of cars? A group of people in the limo? And how does he know which direction they were traveling when he wasn't there to see what he didn't see? And how does a limo slam into an embankment and then go on to crash into pedestrians? Seems like the embankment would have stopped the limo. Unless the pedestrians were in front of the embankment. Is there an embankment in the middle of the parking lot? Or maybe the embankment surrounds the store and the parking lot is an embankment free zone.
We'll probably never know.
The article implies the limo came down 30 - 30A comes in from the left