Two people were killed after a speeding car crashed in flames on the bridge linking New York state in the US and Ontario in Canada at Niagara Falls on Wednesday. The incident sparked a security scare that closed four US-Canada border crossings.
However, hours later, federal and state authorities said that the investigators found no evidence of any act of terrorism.
Though circumstances around the crash on the Rainbow Bridge remained murky, leaving it to be determined whether it was accidental or intentional they said, according to a Reuters report.
“At this time, there is no indication of a terrorist attack” or threat to the public, 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.
CBP is working closely with @FBI, federal, state & local partners in response to a vehicle explosion at Rainbow Bridge which remains closed. Out of abundance of caution, CBP temporarily suspended inbound/outbound traffic at 3 other Buffalo crossings that have since reopened. pic.twitter.com/pTXyUsavRB
— CBP (@CBP) November 22, 2023
The FBI also issued a statement saying it had concluded its probe. “A search of the scene revealed no explosive materials, and no terrorism nexus was identified,” the FBI said in a post on X.
The video of the crash was caught on a security camera and posted on by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
In the five-second footage, a white car could be seen travelling from the U.S. side at high speed, then hitting an object and flying into the air before crashing to the ground and exploding in flames.
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Two people including the driver and a passenger were killed in the crash while a CBP officer sustained minor injuries and was treated at a hospital and later released, an agency official said, as per the Reuters report.
The authorities did not provide information about the identity of the deceased but CNN reported that 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.
