An out-of-control SUV sped across several lanes of flyover traffic, then plunged more than 50ft into a ravine in the grounds of New York’s Bronx Zoo, killing all seven people aboard, including three children.

Hundreds of gay couples recited vows in emotion-choked voices and triumphantly hoisted their long-awaited marriage certificates as New York became the sixth and largest state to recognise same-sex weddings.

After days of contentious negotiations and last-minute reversals by two Republican senators, New York has become the sixth and largest state in the US to legalise gay marriage, breathing life into the US gay rights movement that had stalled over a nearly identical bill in the state two years ago.