NTSB chairman said limousine that crashed on Saturday had some seat belts, but it was unclear if any passengers were wearing them

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported on Monday evening there were no apparent skid marks before a limousine barreled through an intersection and crashed into a parked car, killing 20 people in upstate New York over the weekend.

Limo in crash that killed 20 people had failed an inspection, NY governor says Read more

NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt cautioned during a news conference that the lack of skid marks at the T-junction at the base of a steep hill could be due to misty weather or anti-lock brakes.

Sumwalt said that the stretch limousine that crashed on Saturday afternoon had at least some seat belts, but that it was unclear whether any of the passengers were wearing them.

Investigators plan to examine everything from the mangled limo’s data recorders and mechanical systems to the road, which has a history as a danger spot.

The crash killed 18 people inside the limousine, including the driver, and two bystanders.

Relatives of the deceased said the group in the limo was headed to a birthday party when it crashed in the town of Schoharie, about 40 miles west of state capital Albany.

Records indicate that the limousine company involved in the crash is owned by a noted FBI informant. Federal transportation records say Prestige Limousine was owned by Shahed Hussain and was based at a motel in the area of Gansevoort.

Court records show that Hussain, who owns that motel, gained fame in the years after the September 11 terrorist attacks for infiltrating certain Muslim fundamentalist groups on behalf of the FBI.

He posed as a terrorist sympathizer in at least three federal investigations.

In one case, he helped convict men accused of plotting to bomb New York synagogues.

Albany-area attorney Dana Salazar, who represented Hussain in a civil case, said she knew of his background as an informant but didn’t have knowledge of his limousine rental business.

Calls to the company went unanswered.

The sister of one of the women killed on Saturday said her heart is “sunken” and she is in a “place where I’ve never felt this type of pain before”.

Karina Halse visited the crash site Monday and talked about her 26-year-old sister, Amanda Halse, who she said was in the limo with her boyfriend, Patrick Cushing.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the limousine in question had failed a state inspection and should not have been on the road.