A driver of a tour bus was hit and killed by her own vehicle in the Columbia Icefield parking lot near Jasper on Thursday.

Emergency services were called to the parking lot crash about 1:15 p.m. after the 52-year-old woman was hit, police said Friday.

STARS Air Ambulance was dispatched but she died at the scene.

Witnesses told Mounties that the bus also struck four parked vehicles before it came to rest.

No other people were injured and the investigation is continuing.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The cause of the crash is unclear

Twenty people have been killed in a crash involving a stretch limousine taking people to a party in the US state of New York, police say.

All 18 people in the limousine died along with two pedestrians in the incident on Saturday afternoon in the town of Schoharie, police confirmed.

Witnesses described seeing the SUV-style limousine shoot across a junction and hit another car before ploughing into people in a shop car park.

The cause of the crash is unclear.

The victims have not yet been officially named but the New York Times reports that they include four sisters and at least two pairs of newlyweds. All those killed were adults, police say.

It is America's deadliest transport crash since 2009, said the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Robert Sumwalt.

What happened?

Early reports suggested the car had been taking the group to a wedding reception but later reports said they were travelling to a birthday party.

State police said on Sunday that the passengers in the limousine, described as a 2001 Ford Excursion, would not have been required to wear seatbelts.

Image copyright CBS Image caption Several police units were investigating the fatal incident

The driver was also killed in the crash, they said.

A reporter for local news site Spectrum News, Mercedes Williams, tweeted images and footage from the scene of the incident, which took place near a store and cafe on routes 30 and 30A in Schoharie County.

The images show a long line of emergency services vehicles lining the roads, which were closed to traffic.

Another image shared on Twitter showed a large vehicle that appeared to have veered off the road and crashed into a tree.

Eyewitnesses say a number of people entering and leaving the store were hit in Saturday's incident, local media report.

"I heard this loud bang, I saw a lot of people here at the Apple Barrel [store and cafe] out in the parking lot," said Bridey Finnagen, who lives nearby. "Then I heard screaming."

How is the investigation unfolding?

New York State Police Cpt Richard O'Brien said several separate police units were involved in the investigation, including an identification unit and a drone team.

Authorities have said they expect investigators to be at the scene for at least five days.

Police said that a phone line had been set up to help assist relatives of the victims.

The NTSB is sending a team of investigators.

The location of the intersection is said to be in a hilly region and local authorities had only recently banned large trucks from using sections of the route.</s>Twenty people were killed after a limousine rammed into a parked vehicle and several pedestrians on Saturday afternoon in New York, CNN reported. The accident took place in Schoharie town in New York’s capital Albany.

The stretch limousine was carrying several couples to a birthday party and was travelling on State Route 30 when it failed to stop at an intersection and collided with an SUN in the parking lot. All 18 people, including the driver, in the limo were killed, CNN quoted New York State Police First Deputy Superintendent Chris Fiore as saying. Two pedestrians standing near the SUV were also killed.

“Twenty fatalities is just horrific,” said New York State Police and the National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt, according to Reuters. “I have been on the board for 12 years and this is one of the biggest loss of lives that we’ve seen in a long time.”

Sumwalt said it was the deadliest transportation accident in the US since a plane crash in New York’s Buffalo in 2009 that killed 49 people.</s>The Columbia Icefield parking lot where a bus driver was pinned and killed by her own bus on Thursday is often crowded and unsafe in winter conditions, her coworker told CBC News.

The charter bus driver, 52, dropped off her passengers in the parking lot at around 1:20 p.m. When she left her bus to ask a driver to move their vehicle, the bus started sliding on the ice.

She tried to stop it from hitting other vehicles and became pinned underneath and died, RCMP said. Her name was not released.
• None Driver hit by own tour bus killed in Columbia Icefield parking lot

Ron Movat, her coworker at Canada Coach Lines Inc., pulled into the parking lot shortly after the incident. He saw other drivers pointing to a bus that had slid on the ice and collided with cars. That's when he heard the driver was stuck underneath.

Initially, she was conscious and being assisted by on-site emergency personnel, he said. He stepped away to call his boss. When he returned, they had started CPR on her but she wasn't responding. Ambulances from Jasper arrived at around 2:30 p.m., Movat said.

"It was horrible for all of us," he said.

'The ice needs to be dealt with'

The parking lot off Highway 93 is about 100 kilometres south of Jasper, the closest town.

When a winter storm blew in earlier this week, snow settled and compacted on the parking lot before it was cleared. It caused icy conditions and covered long lines on the parking lot marked for buses, Movat said.

He believes the parking lot wasn't safe for drivers at the time, and said bus drivers have complained about it before.

"If you've got a parking lot that's dangerous in critical areas where vehicles need to turn and people are being dropped off, the ice needs to be dealt with. And also there were way too many vehicles in there," Movat said.

"She shouldn't have been in that situation, she should have been able to just … get her passengers off of the bus in a safe manner and then go and park her bus. But that wasn't possible because there were cars in there blocking the way and she ended up stopping somewhere where she couldn't move any further on the ice."

She shouldn't have been in that situation, she should have been able to just … get her passengers off of the bus in a safe manner and then go and park her bus.

Neither Canada Coach Lines Inc. or Pursuit Collection, the company that manages the parking lot, immediately returned CBC's requests for comment.

Movat said he has also tried to make suggestions to Parks Canada to improve the safety of the parking lot, but has not seen any changes made.

Movat said Canada Coach Lines is trying to subcontract a day of work to another bus company to allow employees time to join together in remembering their colleague.

"I'm not sure what the service is going to be, but I know that everybody's going to want to go," he said.

"She was such a dedicated employee."</s>Twenty people were killed in a wedding limousine crash in Schoharie County, New York, police have confirmed.

According to local media the vehicle sped down a hill a crashed into bystanders in the rural county.

Police said the driver of a limo carrying 17 passengers didn't stop at an intersection. Witnesses at the scene said several bodies could be seen on the ground after the horror crash.

Family have identified Erin and Shane McGowan, who only just walked down the aisle in June, as two of the victims who were in the vehicle.

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Adam and Abby Jackson, parents to four-year-old Archer and 16-month-old Abby, were also killed.

They were all guests at the wedding on Saturday.

The Times Union reports that at least two vehicles - including an SUV-style stretch limousine reported to be en route to a wedding - were involved in the crash on Saturday afternoon.

Two of the 20 killed were pedestrians, officials said on Sunday. All those who died were adults.

Bridey Finegan of Schoharie lives just down the road from the scene of the crash.

She said: "I saw a lot of people here at the Apple Barrel out in the parking lot. Then I heard screaming.

"Then I saw this large van, a very unusual looking vehicle out here in Scoharie in the bushes and really wrecked, hit a tree."

“The first responders broke some windows to try to get people out. I believe the jaws of life were here on the side of one of the fire trucks,” said Finnagen.

Bill Waterson and his son, Bill Jr., came to the scene at 10am local time today

Waterson said he and his son were supposed to attend the wedding that the people in the limo were traveling from.

"I couldn't believe it when I came out of the woods," he said. "This is terrible, terrible, terrible."

Neighbors living close by say they heard a loud bang and came outside to see people running from the café to help.

Some eyewitnesses at the accident say the limo went through the intersection, hitting another car and pedestrians before going into the gully, reports News Channel 13.

"This is a two-vehicle, multi-fatality investigation,” said State Police Capt. Richard O’Brien.

“It's very preliminary. In it's infancy stages. We have several units investigating."

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board announced Sunday morning that it is sending a "go-team" to the site of the deadly crash

Investigators worked into the night on what is likely to be the deadliest vehicle crash the region has seen in years.

The names of the victims are not being released at this time as next of kin are being notified.

The crash happened near the Apple Barrel Country Store.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said: "My heart breaks for the 20 people who lost their lives."

The Apple Barrel posted a note on Facebook confirming it will be open Sunday, and are collecting donations for the local volunteer agencies who responded to the scene of the crash.

"We hope you will come and share your smiles, love, friendship and hugs with us. We also hope you will share your change. We will be collecting donations for our local volunteer emergency services. They are the heroes of our small community."

Schoharie is southwest of Albany and roughly 180 miles from New York City.</s>More parking spaces could become available in Campbell”s downtown core with the resurrection of a lot that has been vacant for four years.

Owner Jeremy Blanchard plans to reopen the lot at 345 E. Campbell Ave. next to Orchard Valley Coffee at a parking site.

The city leased the lot to provide free public parking from 2002 to 2011, but had to end the arrangement in June 2011 because it no longer could afford the cost.

Blanchard”s proposal to revamp the lot went before the city”s site and architectural review committee on Nov. 24.

The 7,130-square-foot parking lot remains chained off; its asphalt needs to be repaired and parking stalls restriped.

When the lot is reopened, it and an adjacent property at 39. N. Central Ave. will add 25 parking spots to the sometimes packed downtown core.

Blanchard told the committee that an automated pay station will be set up, with parking to cost $2 per hour. The lot would not be monitored by a parking attendant.

There are eight public lots and two garages downtown that offer free parking.

The planning commission is expected to review the project at its Dec. 8 meeting in the council chambers at Campbell City Hall, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Commission Chairwoman Pamela Finch, who also chaired the architectural review committee, suggested at the Nov. 24 meeting that the pay-to-park machine should let drivers know when the lot is full before they pull into it.

“There”s a couple different options we”re looking at with the manufacturer,” Blanchard said, noting that the machine that distributes the parking pass will show when the lot is full either by colored light or signage.

Blanchard is also negotiating with nearby building owners to add more lighting to the parking area.

City planner Daniel Fama said the planning commission will also discuss whether a parking lot is the best use of this property. Fama added that the lot could be used for future development.</s>YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP)  An Orange County sheriff”s deputy has shot and killed a driver in the parking lot of a Southern California hotel.

The 40-year-old man was shot Monday outside of the Extended Stay America hotel in Yorba Linda. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. His name hasn”t been released.

Authorities say the man was sitting in a suspicious car in the parking lot when the shooting occurred at around 1 p.m.

He was alone and authorities haven”t said whether he was armed.

Other details of the shooting haven”t been released.</s>RED BANK –The borough’s effort to improve its much-maligned parking situation will get underway in the spring when ground is broken on an improvement project that will transform the English Plaza lot into a multipurpose location.

During a Sept. 26 meeting of the Borough Council, Red Bank RiverCenter executive director James Scavone brought a rendering of a reconfigured lot before the governing body, which featured four additional parking stalls as well as a pedestrian seating area located in the alleyway that exits onto West Front Street between JJ Delicacies and Jr’s of Red Bank.

The lot’s disintegrating curbs and sidewalks will be replaced and accented by landscaping improvements, new LED lighting installments, public benches, art pieces and murals that will make the site more aesthetically pleasing.

Scavone said an added benefit of this particular design – one of six potential designs – is that a large section of parking stalls situated between Investor’s Bank on White Street and the Front Street Trattoria building could be sectioned off and utilized as event space. It’s a usage the English Plaza lot is not currently suited for, but an aspect of the design that aligns with the desires of stakeholders to transform the lot into a multipurpose setting, according to Scavone.

“Using it as an event space was something that has never been available to us and something that will certainly be useful moving forward as another option to program some smaller events,” said Scavone, who hopes increased foot traffic to the lot will inspire more Broad Street business owners to install backdoor entrances that will allow pedestrians to filter in and out of the English Plaza lot, much like Jack’s Music Shoppe.

Scavone said improving the safety and traffic circulation of the lot was the primary focus of the $1 million improvement plan, a project he said will be partially financed by a $500,000 interest-free loan from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. RiverCenter will match the award with subsequent grant money and appropriations from its own capital improvement fund.

Another pivotal aspect of the project is the construction of an extensive pedestrian pathway that would provide a route from Riverside Gardens Park through the English Plaza lot and to the borough’s main White Street parking lot, which acts as an entry point to the rest of the downtown business district on Monmouth Street and beyond.

“That was something that really came out of the listening phase of this project,” Scavone said. “It was something we heard a lot from the stakeholders, who thought it was important to create a more accessible route from Riverside Gardens Park to the downtown area.”

The improvements to the White Street lot include the addition of three parking stalls.

The unveiling of these concept plans followed a Sept. 10 meeting at Red Bank Middle School where Scavone helped lead a dialogue with borough residents and business owners, and representatives of the New York City firm Walker Consultants, who have been tasked with completing the first comprehensive study of the borough’s parking inventory in the commercial business district in 26 years.

Scavone said the firm has been made aware of the proposed plan and potential changes to the English Plaza lot and will factor that into their report accordingly.

This article was first published in the Oct. 4 – Oct. 10, 2018 print edition of The Two River Times.</s>‘Just horrific’: At least 20 killed after limousine crashes in New York

Twenty people were killed Saturday after a stretch limousine crashed into the parking lot of a crowded store in Upstate New York, in what federal authorities are calling the deadliest U.S. transportation accident in nearly a decade.

AP Reports: A witness says a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York “sounded like an explosion.”

Police said that just before 2 p.m. Saturday, they received reports of an accident involving two vehicles in Schoharie, N.Y., about 30 miles west of Albany.

There, a 2001 Ford Excursion limousine traveling southwest on State Route 30 “failed to stop” at an intersection with State Route 30A, and flew into the parking lot of the nearby Apple Barrel Country Store and Cafe, authorities said.

The limousine struck a 2015 Toyota Highlander that was unoccupied in the parking lot, New York State Police first deputy superintendent Christopher Fiore said at a news conference Sunday. Two pedestrians standing nearby were also struck and killed, Fiore added.

Police said that, of the 20 victims, 18 of them had been inside the limousine. Everyone inside the limousine, including the driver, died in the crash, and all those killed Saturday were adults, police added. READ MORE:</s>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Twenty people were killed when a stretch limousine crashed into another vehicle and pedestrians in the parking lot of a store in rural upstate New York, in what federal authorities on Sunday called the deadliest U.S. transport crash in nearly a decade.

A 2001 Ford Excursion that had been stretched into a limousine charged through a highway intersection without stopping on Saturday afternoon, New York State Police and the National Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday.

The limo then hit an unoccupied 2015 Toyota Highlander in the parking lot of a tourist restaurant and slammed into two pedestrians, killing all 18 occupants of the limo and the two people in the parking lot, state police and the NTSB said.

“Twenty fatalities is just horrific. I have been on the board for 12 years and this is one of the biggest loss of lives that we’ve seen in a long time,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt told a news conference on Sunday.

On Sunday, emergency vehicles clustered near the parking lot of the Apple Barrel Country Store, the scene of the crash, in Schoharie, about 40 miles (65 km) west of the state capital, Albany.

It was the deadliest transportation accident in the United States since a 2009 plane crash in Buffalo, New York, that killed 49 people, Sumwalt said.

The dead included at least two pairs of newlyweds, the New York Times reported. No injuries were reported.

Barbara Douglas, the aunt of four sisters who died in the crash, said the victims were smart, beautiful and lived life to the fullest.

“I don’t know how you say it. You can’t wrap you head around such a tragedy where you have four of your daughters die,” she told reporters at the scene.

“I don’t know what to tell you, they were the best nieces that anybody could have,” she said.

Names of the victims have not been released pending notification of the next of kin. The NTSB and the New York State Police were probing the cause of the crash and looking into safety regulations in the limousine industry.

The victims were taken to Albany Medical Center where autopsies were conducted. All those killed were adults, state police said.
Twenty people are killed in Schoharie County, New York, when a stretch limousine fails to stop at an intersection, veers into a parking lot and strikes an empty vehicle, which in turn hits two pedestrians. All 17 passengers in the limousine are killed, along with the driver and the two pedestrians.