After couple’s fatal bridge crash at US-Canada border, investigators search for reason

NEW YORK – Police investigators in Niagara Falls, New York, on Nov 23 were untangling the mystery behind why a car crashed and burned at a bridge at the US-Canada border, killing a local couple and causing panic on both sides.

Among the possibilities that investigators were considering was whether the car, an older Bentley model, experienced a mechanical failure that caused it to accelerate, according to Mr Robert Restaino, the mayor of Niagara Falls.

The victims were a man and his wife from Grand Island, New York, both in their 50s, who owned several businesses in western New York, according to Mr Restaino. He declined to release their names because the family had not been officially notified.

Mr Restaino said the couple had originally been headed to a concert in Canada, and investigators believe it was a show by rock band Kiss that was called off.

The Niagara Falls police took over the investigation after the US Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded that the crash on Nov 22 was not related to terrorism, despite initial fears and a sweeping response by local, state and federal authorities, including closure of the border at several locations.

On Nov 23, the police department’s accident reconstruction team was tracing the couple’s journey from a casino downtown to the border crossing, examining surveillance video, the scene of the crash and other evidence collected by the authorities.

A spokesman for the nearby Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino confirmed that the couple had been at the property for several minutes shortly before the crash.

From there, the car would have needed to travel a little more than 1.6km to the Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge, which straddles the Niagara River just downstream from the famous falls. Once on the bridge headed towards Canada, the car – travelling at “a very high rate of speed”, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul – hit a median strip and went airborne, topping a fence before colliding with a border patrol booth.

The resulting explosion sent flames shooting into the sky and government and law enforcement officials scrambling to determine what had happened. Cross-border rail services were suspended and cars searched for explosives at local airports as White House and Homeland Security officials were briefed.

Cable television was flooded with speculation about the cause of the blast, and some politicians took the opportunity to warn against terrorism and criticise US President Joe Biden. By nightfall, however, Ms Hochul was assuring the public that no terrorist activity was suspected. NYTIMES