Mourners pack funeral for 8 of 20 killed in NY limo crash

AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners packed an upstate New York church today for the funeral of four sisters and four other family members who died in a limousine crash last weekend that killed a total of 20 people.

The Rev. O. Robert DeMartinis assured mourners at the St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam, N.Y., that their loved ones can still see their tears, feel their heartache and want them to live in the moment.

Referring to the catastrophic accident last Saturday that turned a birthday celebration into tragedy, "the question that is in the hearts of so many is why," the priest said. "Why did these 20 individuals have to be taken from us so quickly and so unexpectedly?"

Among them were Amy Steenburg and her husband, Axel Steenburg, whom DeMartinis had married in June.

One item from their wedding was brought to the funeral: a sign the couple made asking wedding guests not to take pictures, because "we suggest that you live in the moment."

The priest held up the sign for about 500 mourners in the pews to see.

"That's what they're asking me to ask you to do today," Father DeMartinis said.