2023-11-25 07:15:00
(CNN) — Investigators identified the couple who died Wednesday in an explosion near the border between the United States and Canada.
Kurt P. Villani and his wife Monica Villani, both 53, died in the traffic accident that occurred on the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge border crossing, the Niagara Falls Police Department said in a news release. The couple lived in Grand Island, New York, the New York Police Department said.
The couple’s relatives thanked those who sent them messages of support and asked the public for privacy.
“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who extended their prayers, condolences and well wishes,” family members said in a statement released through the Erie County Sheriff’s Office. “We are deeply moved. At this time, we are requesting privacy so we can begin the healing process. Thank you.”
Despite initial concerns of a terrorist attack, the FBI has found no connection to terrorism, and no explosives were found at the scene, the agency’s Buffalo field office said Wednesday night.
“I want to be very, very clear to Americans and New Yorkers: At this time there is no indication of a terrorist attack,” the governor told reporters at a news conference Wednesday night.
“Two individuals were killed in the vehicle,” Hochul said, noting that the car is associated with a Western New York resident.
Investigators believe that the deceased man was scheduled to attend a KISS concert in Canada, but when it was cancelled, he went to a casino in the United States instead. The accident occurred shortly following the couple left the casino, according to sources.
The explosion caused the temporary closure of the four bridges between Canada and the United States, near Niagara Falls, on one of the busiest days of the year. Three of the bridges reopened later Wednesday, but the Rainbow Bridge remained closed overnight. The port reopened at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to the United States Customs and Border Protection Service.
Here’s what we know so far:
The accident seems “surreal”, according to the governor
The vehicle was traveling at an “extraordinarily high speed” when it approached the border crossing around 11:30 in the morning and collided with a barrier, Governor Hochul explained.
The impact caused the car to rise several meters into the air before crashing into a Customs and Border Protection booth and bursting into flames, Hochul said. He described footage of the incident as “absolutely surreal.”
An officer working the booth was treated for minor injuries, he said.
The vehicle was “basically incinerated” and the remains were scattered across more than a dozen checkpoints, according to the governor.
Rickie Wilson saw the car fly past him “almost like in a movie” and, for a moment, he thought it was a plane, the witness told CNN affiliate WKBW.
Debris strewn across the customs plaza at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing Wednesday in Niagara Falls, New York. (Credit: Derek Gee/AP)
The FBI investigated the explosion as a possible terrorist threat
After the crash, federal investigators rushed to determine whether it was a terrorist act. Within a few hours, the authorities released their preliminary conclusions and assured the public that they had found no evidence of terrorist motivation.
“But we will continue to be vigilant. We will continue to ensure that the information we have is conveyed to the public,” US Attorney Trini Ross of the Western District of New York said at a press conference.
The leaders of the United States and Canada were informed of the incident while the investigation was underway. The initial explosion also prompted increased security precautions in the region, including the evacuation of local government offices on the U.S. side.
Buffalo Niagara International Airport closed its doors to arriving and departing international flights, but later lifted the restriction, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration. A spokesman for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority stated that all cars arriving at the airport were being inspected by bomb-sniffing dogs. And Amtrak temporarily suspended part of its cross-border route connecting New York to Toronto.
Officials investigating the crash had been searching for an individual, but working through the Joint Terrorism Task Force did not initially find any concerning information, FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew Miraglia said Wednesday followingnoon.
“We do not have any derogatory information regarding this person that we have identified,” he said. “We are scanning their social media, there is nothing there. We are still conducting a full investigation, so it is a preliminary assessment.”
— CNN’s Pete Muntean, Raja Razek, Dave Alsup, Josh Campbell, Sabrina Souza and Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.
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