By NOA ISRAEL

A limousine carrying 18 people crashed last Saturday night near Albany, N.Y., killing all 18 people in the vehicle, including the driver, and two pedestrians.

The 2001 Ford Excursion limousine is said to have run through a stop sign while on the way to one of the passengers birthday celebration in Cooperstown going at least 60 m.p.h. and colliding with a parked car, killing two more people nearby. Four sisters and a newlywed couple were among those who died in the limousine. Initially, the cause of the crash was unclear, investigations went underway to determine if it was a technical malfunction or driver error.

Investigators discovered the driver of the vehicle, Scott Lisincchia, did not have proper licensing and was only permitted to carry 15 passengers. It was also later determined that the Ford Excursion limousine had failed to pass previous inspections and that the company was made aware — on multiple occasions — of the issues regarding the vehicle.

“The operator of the limo company, Nauman Hussain, was arrested on Wednesday in a “controlled traffic stop” because state police feared he was trying to flee,” ABC News reported yesterday. In his car, police discovered suitcases which Hussain excused as for hiding from death threats. He was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminally negligent homicide for putting a vehicle that did not pass inspection and driver with improper license on the road.

The crash  is the deadliest transportation crash since 2009 and has brought together hundreds of mourners. The first funeral, of the youngest woman aboard — Savannah Burese — took place Thursday afternoon. The next funeral for the victims involved is set to take place Friday for four sisters and three of their husbands.