The $300,000 white Bentley that crashed along a border bridge in Niagara Falls on Wednesday was described by a witness as a “fireball” that “floated 30 to 40 feet in the air before crashing to the ground, disintegrating and killing both occupants.” .
The wreck sparked a terror threat felt across the East Coast ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, a time when security agencies are on high alert for possible attacks.
The dead were a husband and wife returning from a canceled Kiss concert in Toronto along the Rainbow Bridge that connects Ontario, Canada, with New York state. It is thought the driver may have suffered a ‘medical emergency’.
Witness 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. He said the vehicle, which he described as a luxury sedan, went out of control before crashing.
The remains of the $300,000 Bentley that crashed near the US-Canada border crossing in Niagara Falls on Wednesday
The giant fire plume is seen in the aftermath of the crash that killed a 56-year-old businessman and his wife
A Bentley Flying Spur, as driven by the businessman and his wife on Wednesday
The crash caused a wave of panic and led to the closure of several border crossings
“It was a fireball, nine to forty feet high, I’ve never seen anything like that,” Guenther said.
Another witness told the local news outlet WKBW that the crash site looked more like a movie scene.
Rickie Wilson told the station he thought the white luxury sedan was a plan as he watched it spin in the air before returning to Earth and hitting something before landing.
While Guenther described seeing “car parts in pieces everywhere” after the horror impact. “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 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.”
In this image from the security video, a light-colored vehicle, top center, flies over a fence into the Rainbow Bridge customs plaza
He described the car as “flying” at a speed of more than 100 miles per hour. “We could hardly see it was happening so fast,” he said.
“There was a car in front of him, he swerved around it, it looked like he hit the fence and the fire started.”
The couple planned to drive to a KISS concert as part of the legendary rockers’ farewell tour in Canada, CNN’s John Miller reported, which was later canceled because bandmate Paul Stanley was suffering from the flu.
Miller said there was some speculation that the driver, from a well-known family in Grand Isle, New York, had a medical problem.
As a result of the crash, border crossings in the area were closed for hours.
Federal and state authorities said investigators found no evidence of an act of terrorism, although the circumstances surrounding the crash remained murky, leaving questions as to whether it was accidental or intentional.
“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.
The FBI said in a statement that it has completed its investigation. “An on-site investigation revealed no explosive material and no connection to terrorism was identified,” the FBI said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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.
The driver and a passenger were killed in the wreck and a CBP officer was slightly injured. He was treated at a hospital and released, an agency official said later.
Authorities have not identified the two people killed.
The White House confirmed that the president has been briefed on the incident, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said “additional measures” are being considered and activated at border crossings in his country.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on its website that Buffalo Niagara International Airport was closed, but Hochul said there were no disruptions.
The crash occurred at a time of heightened safety concerns around the world due to the conflict in the Middle East and at the height of U.S. holiday travel on the eve of Thanksgiving celebrations.
The Rainbow Bridge and all three other border crossings along the Niagara River between western New York and the Canadian province of Ontario – the Peace Bridge, the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and the Whirlpool Bridge – were closed for several hours as a precaution.
Other international border crossings remained open due to the “heightened alert status,” the governor said.
Security measures were escalated at other airports and railways operated by the Niagara-Frontier Transit Authority, as well as at several locations in New York City, officials said.
The three bridges not involved reopened early Wednesday evening, but the Rainbow crossing remained closed during the investigation and while officials assessed the safety of the crossing.
Hochul said the car that crashed sailed over an 8-foot fence before ending up in a fireball that burned the vehicle, leaving nothing visible except the engine and spreading debris over more than a dozen security booths on the bridge.