Twenty people are dead following a horrific wedding limousine crash at an upstate New York tourist spot.
Twenty people have been killed after a limousine taking people to a birthday party went past a stop sign at the end of a New York state highway and ploughed into a parked car.
All 18 people in the limo and two pedestrians died in the deadliest road accident in the United States in almost a decade, officials said.
The father of newlywed Erin McGowan posted of his devastation on social media.
The aunt of one of the victims in a limousine crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York says the vehicle was on its way to a birthday celebration.
Valerie Abeling says newlyweds Erin Vertucci and Shane McGowan were among those killed. She says Vertucci was 34 and McGowan was 30. Abeling says her daughter had been invited along but was unable to go.
Members of the National Transportation Safety Board work at the scene of the fatal crash, in Schoharie.
Officials say the crash in Schoharie was the deadliest transportation accident in the US since a 2009 plane crash in Buffalo, New York, killed 50 people.
State police say the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine was travelling south west on Route 30 in Schoharie, about 270km north of New York City at around 2pm when it failed to stop at a T-junction.
Debris and a track remains in Schoharie at the intersection on Route 30 and 30A where 20 people died Saturday in a horrific accident. @SPECNewsAlbanypic.twitter.com/kFqDpvnesP
A witness says the crash "sounded like an explosion."
Linda Riley of Schenectady, New York, says she was in a parked car at the Apple Barrel Country Store in Schoharie when she heard the noise.
She says she got out and saw a body on the ground by her vehicle, and broken tree branches everywhere.
The store manager, Jessica Kirby, told the New York Times that the limo was coming down a hill at "probably over 60mph".
In a Facebook post on Saturday, the store thanked emergency responders for their actions. The store posted on Sunday that it was open "and could use your hugs".
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, said chairman Robert Sumwalt.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said: "My heart breaks for the 20 people who lost their lives in this horrific accident on Saturday in Schoharie.
"I commend the first responders who arrived on the scene and worked through the night to help.
"State police are working with federal and local authorities to investigate the crash, and I have directed state agencies to provide every resource necessary to aid in this investigation and determine what led to this tragedy."
