A State Park Police car blocks traffic to the Rainbow Bridge, one of four major crossings between the U.S. and Canada that is closed after a car crashed and exploded at the bridge on November 22, 2023 in Niagara Falls, New York. According to reports, the two occupants died when their car crashed near a border checkpoint. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. (Photo by John Normile/Getty Images)
OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
1:48 PM – Thursday, November 23, 2023
The FBI has wrapped up its investigation into a vehicle explosion that killed two people at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls.
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On Wednesday night, the agency released a statement saying a search of the scene revealed no explosive materials and no terrorism nexus was identified.
The incident has now been turned over to the Niagara Falls police department as a traffic investigation.
Mike Guenther, a Canadian who was visiting New York, said he was walking nearby when he witnessed the horrific crash.
“And he was flying, over 100 miles an hour. There was a car in front of him, he swerved out, went in front of the car, hit the fence, went flying up into the air … there was just smoke everywhere,” Guenther said.
The two people who died in the crash were inside the vehicle. Officials confirmed the pair were a married couple but have not released their identities.
Video released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the car traveling at a high rate of speed before it hit a curb and became airborne, landing in a customs station.
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
According to CNN, investigators believe the couple were driving back from a casino in the U.S.. The husband reportedly planned on going to a KISS concert in Canada on Wednesday, but it was canceled and they went to a casino instead.
A border patrol agent was also injured in the crash. Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) said the vehicle was “incinerated” and the only thing left of it was the engine.
All four international crossings between the U.S. and Canada in Western New York were temporarily closed.
It’s unclear what caused the driver to move at high speeds before the crash. Investigators have yet to determine whether it was deliberate or accidental.
Authorities on both sides of the border have stepped up patrols in the meantime.
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