Smoke billows from Niagara Falls explosion as two people dead in vehicle blast
New details are emerging about the two people killed in the vehicle explosion at the US-Canada border crossing at Niagara Falls on Wednesday.
Law enforcement sources told CNN that a local New York man and his wife, who have not been identified, planned to attend a KISS concert in Canada but the gig was cancelled.
The pair spent the night briefly visiting a casino near the border before the speeding Bentley they were traveling in rammed into the crossing at Rainbow Bridge, the sources said.
The Seneca Nation, which owns and operates the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino, said a vehicle stopped at the resort and casino “for a matter of minutes shortly before the crash.”
The vehicle then drove less than a mile away to the bridge where it hit a curb on the US side of the border, became airborne and then combusted, according to the FBI field office in Buffalo.
The blast instantly sparked fears of a terrorist attack but New York Governor Kathy Hochul later said there was “no sign of terrorist activity”.
Visitors and residents in the region reported seeing a “ball of fire” at the scene of the explosion, as thick smoke and flames rose from the site. Surveillance footage captured the vehicle speeding toward the bridge before crashing and exploding.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport reopened to arriving international flights and departures after officials concluded their investigation into the cause of the blast. The car had attempted to cross the US border into Canada, but when a border patrol officer directed the car into a secondary lane for searching, it sped up, went airborne, crashed, caught on fire and then exploded.
The FBI has since ended its investigation, finding no evidence that it was a terror attack, easing a tense period of high tensions as Americans headed into the Thanksgiving holiday. The incident led to heightened security measures and shut down four international bridges and cross-border train services.
Misinformation circulated on social media in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, with several outlets sounding alarms of a potential terrorist attack before the FBI confirmed that no explosive materials and no terrorism nexus were identified at the scene.
The identities of the couple killed in the explosion have not been released, but they are believed to have been traveling to the KISS concert in their Bentley before the tragic accident occurred.