WASHINGTON: A speeding car crashed in flames on the bridge linking New York state and Ontario at Niagara Falls on Wednesday (Nov 22), killing two people in the vehicle and sparking a security scare that closed four US-Canadian border crossings and New York’s Buffalo International Airport.
Hours later federal and state authorities said investigators had found no evidence of an act of terror, though circumstances surrounding the crash on the Rainbow Bridge remained murky, leaving it to be determined whether it was accidental or intentional.
“At this time, there is no indication of a terrorist attack” or threat to the public at large, New York Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters on Wednesday evening. Her comments were echoed by federal and local law enforcement officials at a separate news conference.
The FBI said in a statement late on Wednesday it had concluded its investigation. “A search of the scene revealed no explosive materials, and no terrorism nexus was identified,” the FBI said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Video of the crash caught on security camera and posted to X by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency showed the car travelling from the US side at high speed, then hitting an object and flying into the air before crashing to the ground and exploding in flames.
The driver and a passenger perished in the wreck, and a CBP officer suffered minor injuries. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released, an agency official said later.
Authorities did not identify the two people killed. CNN reported the driver was a 56-year-old man who was travelling in a Bentley automobile with his wife to attend a concert by the rock group KISS.
A performance of the band scheduled for Wednesday in Toronto as part of the group’s farewell tour was cancelled after one of its members, Paul Stanley, came down with the flu.