The limousine had not been their first choice. A close-knit group of 17 friends in upstate New York had originally rented “some kind of…
The limousine had not been their first choice.
A close-knit group of 17 friends in upstate New York had originally rented “some kind of bus” Saturday to celebrate a friend’s 30th birthday, Valerie Abeling recalled. Her niece, 34-year-old Erin McGowan, was among those on what was supposed to be a fun-filled excursion to a brewery in Cooperstown.
But somewhere along the way, Abeling said, the bus apparently broke down – a minor inconvenience compared to the tragedy that was to come. The travel provider then sent a 2001 Ford Excursion limousine to take the group the rest of the way, she said.
Shortly after the white stretch limousine arrived, McGowan texted Abeling’s daughter to say the vehicle appeared to be in terrible condition.
Still, the group continued southwest on State Route 30. Some 20 minutes later, the limousine came over a steep hill and headed down toward a T-shaped intersection in Schoharie, New York, a town about 30 miles west of Albany. Witnesses would later recall the limo blowing past a stop sign and plowing into the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store at the bottom of the hill, police said.
There, it struck a parked SUV and at least two pedestrians, before becoming lodged in a ditch at the side of the road, police said.
The crash killed 20 people in all, including the two bystanders, the limousine driver and all 17 passengers, police said. And the families of those killed – many of whom were related or were childhood friends – are struggling to come to grips with the magnitude of the tragedy.
“It’s tragic. Horrible. I can’t even begin to even explain,” Abeling said in an interview Sunday from upstate New York, where her family was gathered. “Our lives have been changed forever.”
Abeling confirmed that her niece’s new husband, 30-year-old Shane McGowan, had also been in the limousine. The couple married in June and were among a tight circle made up mostly of old high school and neighborhood friends from Amsterdam, New York.
“These were friends just starting their lives, getting married, and this is how it ended,” Abeling said. “It’s a tragic loss of beautiful souls.”
Many of those in the limousine were related to one another. In an interview with ABC News, Barbara Douglas appeared stunned as she confirmed that four of her nieces were among those killed.
“I had four nieces,” Douglas told the news station. “They’re all dead. They were in there.”
The brewery trip had been planned to celebrate her niece Amy Steenberg’s 30th birthday, Douglas told CBS News. Relatives identified Steenberg’s other three sisters who were killed as Mary Dyson, Allison King and Abby Jackson, according to The New York Times.
Like the McGowans, Steenberg and her husband, Axel Steenberg, had just gotten married in June; Axel’s brother, Rich Steenberg, was also killed in the limousine crash, she said.
“Can’t wrap your head around it – you just can’t,” Douglas told the news station. “They were wonderful girls. They would do anything for you, and they were very close to each other and they loved their family.”
Their younger brother, Eric Steenberg, who wasn’t on the trip, told the news station it seemed like “a really bad dream.”
On Monday morning, standing at the intersection where the crash happened, Karina Halse cried as she confirmed to ABC’s “Good Morning America” that her sister, 26-year-old Amanda Halse, and her sister’s husband, Patrick Cushing, were among those killed.
“My sister was the most beautiful soul that I’ve ever been so grateful to know in my life,” Karina Halse told host Robin Roberts, through tears. “She was creative from the day that she was born. . .. She just wanted to make sure everyone was happy and I’m so grateful that she was my sister out of everyone else on this earth.”
Calls to the families of the other victims were not returned, and The Washington Post is withholding their names until their identities can be confirmed by relatives.
The crash rattled even longtime federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, who converged on the scene over the weekend to begin trying to reconstruct what had happened.
“Twenty fatalities is just horrific,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt told reporters Sunday. “This is the most deadly transportation accident in this country since February of 2009.”
The crash occurred where two state highways – State Route 30 and State Route 30A – meet at the bottom of a hill. Schoharie Town Supervisor Alan Tavenner said the New York Department of Transportation had in recent years outlawed heavy trucks on the hill because of instances where runaway trucks lost their ability to brake down the steep grade.
“If somebody’s new to the area or not familiar with the area, I can see how it’d be easy to miss that you’re coming down to the T-intersection and going to have to stop at the bottom of it,” he said.
Residents of the town of 3,000 mourned Sunday afternoon as the town supervisor reflected on the two volunteer ambulance companies who responded.
“There wasn’t anything they could do there,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like anybody survived in that limo.”
It was unclear how many other people, if any, were injured. Police said Sunday that they were not releasing any of the victims’ names, pending autopsies and notification of next of kin.
Jessica Kirby, the manager of the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe, told The New York Times that the limousine was probably traveling more than 60 mph as it came down the hill and that the store was crowded with visitors from out of town because of the long holiday weekend.
“I don’t want to describe the scene,” Kirby told the newspaper. “We’ve heard accidents before. You know that sound when it happens.”
Calls to the Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe were not answered Sunday afternoon. In a Facebook post, the store said that it would remain open through the weekend despite the “horrific accident in front of our business.”
“Our hearts grieve for the victim’s families, our customers who tried to help, and our staff who did everything they could to comfort,” the post said. “We will not be discussing the events of today any further. Thank you for understanding.”
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said state agencies should “provide every resource necessary” to investigate the crash.
“My heart breaks for the 20 people who lost their lives in this horrific accident on Saturday in Schoharie,” Cuomo said in a statement.
