NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The occupants of the fast-moving car that went airborne over an 8-foot fence and crashed and exploded at the American side of the Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday appear to have stopped at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino just before the crash that killed them, Niagara Falls Police Superintendent John Faso said.
The vehicle, a 2022 Bentley, approached the international crossing traveling at high speed down Niagara Street and hit a concrete barrier, launching it toward the customs plaza, Faso said Thursday.
The FBI late Wednesday said the investigation into the crash found “no terrorism nexus.” The case was turned over to Niagara Falls police as a traffic investigation, the agency said.
A view of the debris field inside the customs plaza at the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the plaza on Wednesday.
Investigators were still working to positively identify the occupants and notify next of kin, Niagara Falls police said.
The Rainbow Bridge remained closed to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic as of noon Thursday.
The identities of the vehicle owner and his wife, who was also in the vehicle, are known by the FBI, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said late Wednesday. The occupants were from Western New York, two law enforcement sources previously said.
It will take “some time” for the department’s Crash Management Unit to complete the investigation, due to its complexity, Faso said.
The Seneca Nation, which owns the casino, in a written statement issued Thursday said it was cooperating with the police investigation.
“We have reviewed and provided information related to a vehicle that stopped at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino only for a matter of minutes shortly before the crash occurred,” the nation said in a statement released by a spokesperson.
A view of the debris field inside the customs plaza at the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the plaza on Wednesday. Both occupants of the car died.
The crash happened at 11:32 a.m. Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and a busy day for travel.
After the crash, traffic was shut down on all four international crossings between Western New York and Canada. All but the Rainbow were reopened by about 5 p.m. Wednesday.
A customs officer injured in the incident was released from Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center after treatment. Investigators found no evidence of any chemicals or substances that would cause an explosion.
A source with knowledge of the situation said the couple was traveling in a luxury vehicle and had purchased two tickets to a concert Wednesday night in Toronto.
Video from the scene showed a fire quickly spreading in the plaza and a huge plume of black smoke billowing into the sky. Other images that circulated on social media appeared to show charred remnants of a shattered vehicle strewn about the plaza.
Investigators were looking at the possibility that the driver had a medical incident, or there was a malfunction with the vehicle.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday of the incinerated vehicle, “there is nothing left but the engine.”
Hochul said the car was “basically incinerated” with nothing left but the engine and a scattering of charred debris, describing a video of the crash as “surreal.”
“You actually had to look at it and say, was this generated by AI?" she said at a news conference. "Because it was so surreal to see. How high in the air this vehicle went, and then the crash, and the explosion, and the fire.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Photos: Aftermath after vehicle crashes, explodes at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls
The Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls as law enforcement from multiple agencies assemble to investigate after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
A heavily armed Niagara Falls Police officer directs tourists in Niagara Falls away from the Rainbow Bridge after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Law enforcement barricade the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
A view of the debris field inside the customs plaza at the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the plaza on Wednesday. Both occupants of the car died.
A view of the debris field inside the customs plaza at the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the plaza on Wednesday.
The customs plaza is closed at the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Fire damage is visible at a structure in the customs plaza at the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Law enforcement barricade the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
The customs plaza is closed at the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls, after a car crashed and exploded within the plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Law enforcement barricade the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Law enforcement agents block the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Eyewitness Rickie Wilson describes what he saw to members of the news media outside the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed into the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Law enforcement officers park an armored vehicle at a barricade outside the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded inside the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
State Police block traffic on Main Street in Niagara Falls near the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (Derek Gee/Buffalo News)
Law enforcement officers park an armored vehicle at a barricade outside the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after an car crashed and exploded inside the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
A Niagara Falls Police officer directs tourists away from the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, N.Y. after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
A Niagara Falls Police officer directs tourists away from the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded within the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Law enforcement officers park an armored vehicle at a barricade outside the entrance to the Rainbow Bridge to Canada in Niagara Falls after a car crashed and exploded inside the customs plaza, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.

