The Bentley that crashed into the U.S. border with Canada on Wednesday may have suffered a mechanical failure, Niagara’s mayor said.
A New York couple, a 56-year-old businessman and his wife, were both killed in the horror crash in which their $300,000 supercar jumped a fence and burst into flames.
The victims have yet to be formally identified, partly due to the inferno that burned the entire wreckage.
The crash sparked immediate fears of a terrorist attack, but on Wednesday evening New York Governor Kathy Hochul had assured residents it was a traffic incident.
The light-colored car, a Bentley Flying Spur, can be seen flying over the fence at the top right before it exploded
A Bentley Flying Spur, as driven by the businessman and his wife on Wednesday
The giant fire plume is seen in the aftermath of the crash that killed a 56-year-old businessman and his wife
The crash caused a wave of panic and led to the closure of several border crossings
Robert Restaino, the mayor of Niagara, told The New York Times that a vehicle malfunction is being investigated.
Their car, a 2022 Bentley Flying Spur, was almost completely destroyed in the crash, with only the engine left intact.
Erin Bronner, a spokeswoman for the U.S. arm of Bentley Motors, told the newspaper that authorities had not yet contacted the automaker about the incident, so she had no information to disclose.
Restaino said the couple was originally headed to a concert in Canada, and investigators believe it was a Kiss show that was canceled due to a band member’s illness.
The pair stopped at the Seneca Niagara casino before approaching the border, a casino spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com, but they were only inside for a few minutes, leading to speculation they were there to exchange money.
Mike Guenther told Buffalo television station WGRZ-TV that he was walking with his wife near the bridge when the car, which was traveling at a high rate of speed, struck a fence at the intersection and was catapulted into the air before exploding.
“He was flying at over 100 miles per hour,” said Guenther, who was visiting from Kitchener, Ontario.
The remains of the $300,000 Bentley that crashed near the US-Canada border crossing in Niagara Falls on Wednesday
Federal and state authorities said investigators found no evidence of an act of terrorism, although the circumstances surrounding the crash remained murky
Eyewitness Mike Guenther described the terrifying moment he saw a vehicle “fishing” through traffic toward Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls in the minutes before the explosion.
Video of the crash, captured by the security camera and posted to before crashing to the ground and exploding into flames.
Guenther said the vehicle, which he described as a luxury sedan, went out of control before crashing.
“He swerved as he drove down this road here, fishtailing because he was going so fast,” he said.
“When he hit the fence there was a fire at the time, but when he went back up he must have hit the building and there was a big noise and he just shot up into the air and you couldn’t see anything but smoke.
‘We heard a big bang. I said there’s no way that guy can stop, he’s just going too fast.
‘Suddenly it went up into the air and then it was a fireball 30 to 40 feet high, I’ve never seen anything like that. It was absolutely incredible.’
Guenther described seeing “car parts in pieces everywhere” after the horror impact.
Guenther said fire trucks were first on the scene and within 10 minutes there were “police everywhere.”
“We could see the fireball – that’s all we could see, it was just smoke everywhere,” he added.
“I don’t think that person is going to survive, his car parts were everywhere.”