1) Victims In Niagara Falls Border Bridge Crash Identified As Western New York Couple 2) No Evidence Vehicle Explosion At Canada-U.S. Border Was Terrorist Activity: Governor
1) Victims In Niagara Falls Border Bridge Crash Identified As Western New York Couple
Courtesy of Barrie 360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Nov 24th, 2023
Niagara Falls – The Associated Press
The two people killed when their car crashed into a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls and exploded in a fiery wreck were identified Friday as a western New York husband and wife whose family owns a lumber business and several hardware stores in the Buffalo area.
The Niagara Falls Police Department named the couple as Kurt P. Villani and Monica Villani, both 53, of Grand Island, New York, a leafy Buffalo suburb close to the falls.
Online business records and the company website indicate the victims’ family owns Gui’s Lumber and seven Ace Hardware locations in western New York, his family operating the business since the mid-1980s.
“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all that extended prayers, condolences and well wishes,” the families and the lumber company said in a joint statement released by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office on Friday. “At this point, we are requesting privacy so we may begin the process of healing.”
Authorities have not yet released details on what exactly led to the couple’s crash Wednesday at the Rainbow Bridge, where their car raced through an intersection, hit a low median and was launched through the air before slamming into a row of security booths and bursting into flames.
The wreck prompted widespread concern on both sides of the border, as video and images of what appeared to be the aftermath of an explosion began to circulate online and officials closed the bridge and three other crossings in the area. Authorities investigated for several hours before the FBI’s Buffalo office said it found no signs the incident was a terror attack and turned the case over to local police as a traffic investigation.
The Niagara Falls Police Department has said the investigation will take time to complete given the complexity of the crash. The agency issued a statement Friday that named the victims but contained no other details.
“The City of Niagara Falls would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families as they deal with this tragedy,” the statement read.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has described the crash as “surreal” and said the vehicle was “basically incinerated” with nothing left but the engine and a scattering of charred debris.
“You actually had to look at it and say, was this generated by AI?” Hochul, a Democrat, said at a news conference Wednesday. “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 safety measures tied up traffic at a nearby airport in Buffalo and elsewhere on one of the busiest U.S. travel days of the year, ahead of the American Thanksgiving holiday. The bridges were later reopened.
About 6,000 vehicles cross the Rainbow Bridge each day, according to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory. The short, steel bridge offers scenic views of the falls.
2) No Evidence Vehicle Explosion At Canada-U.S. Border Was Terrorist Activity: Governor
Courtesy of Barrie360.com and Canadian PressPublished: Nov 22nd, 2023
By James McCarten and Fakiha Baig
The governor of New York state says there’s no apparent terrorism link to a car that hit a median at breakneck speed, soared through the air, crashed and exploded, killing two people Wednesday at a Canada-U.S. border checkpoint in Niagara Falls.
“There is no evidence at this time that this was a terrorist activity,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told a news conference about the explosion that happened just before noon at the U.S. entrance on the Rainbow Bridge spanning the Niagara River.
“That’s what I want to make very clear to the public, just to calm everybody down,” said Hochul. “It’s really important, because based on what’s happening in other parts of the world, everybody is on edge. And this is an international border.”
She said the investigation continues but, based on briefings with FBI, Homeland Security and other officials, there is “no known terrorist connection.”
Hochul added there were no hallmarks of terrorism, such as threat notes or a group taking public credit.
The crash led to confusion and delays throughout the region.
Three other area border crossings between Ontario and western New York were closed for hours as Mounties, the Canada Border Services Agency and Ontario Provincial Police, along with the U.S. FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and New York State Police, scrambled to contain the possibility of expanded threats.
Buffalo-Niagara International Airport began security checks on all cars and told passengers to expect additional screenings.
Hochul said the two people who died were in the vehicle and the driver was from western New York state.
The car hit the median at such a speed that it became airborne, clearing a tall fence before crashing, said Hochul.
“They crashed into a customs and border patrol booth,” she said.
“The car and the booth immediately exploded (and) burst into flames. I saw the video of an airborne vehicle that was absolutely surreal.
“Your jaw will drop in disbelief and how this went so high over an eight-foot fence. It’s rather extraordinary.”
Video released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the car in the far background as other vehicles go through the checkpoint. The white-coloured vehicle roars through an intersection before hitting the median, vaulting into the air and over a security fence, then twisting as it descends out of view.
A border patrol worker, protected from the crash by a booth, received minor injuries and was released from hospital.
The identities of the dead were not released.
They were a husband and wife, according to a person briefed on the investigation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Matthew Miraglia, the FBI special agent in charge in Buffalo, said investigators scanned the social media of the driver but found no “derogatory” information.
“There’s nothing there,” Miraglia said.
Witnesses recalled hearing a loud explosion and seeing black smoke at the crash site.
Tania Chaumont, who lives on the Canadian side in Niagara Falls, said she saw police cars racing down a road outside the Starbucks where she works.
“We live in a crazy world,” Chaumont said. “There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on.”
Hochul addressed unconfirmed reports that the pair in the car had left a Niagara Falls casino just prior to the crash.
“I can’t confirm where the car originated at this time, but there is suspicion that the vehicle may have originated in that vicinity,” she said.
The Rainbow Bridge was to remain closed, she said, as investigators sift through a large debris field.
“This vehicle basically incinerated. Nothing is left but the engine. The pieces are scattered over 13, 14 booths,” said Hochul.
The other three land crossings temporarily shut down were the Queenston Lewiston Bridge in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, N.Y., and the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge in Niagara Falls.
Heightened global tensions and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war had officials on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border taking emergency precautions.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc called it a “violent circumstance” and a source of concern for both countries but warned against jumping to conclusions.
“Any time a piece of infrastructure as important to Canada and the United States, like a border crossing, sees this kind of violent circumstance, it’s a source of concern for the government of Canada and for the United States,” said LeBlanc.
“We’re taking this circumstance very seriously. But to speculate on the origin of this particular circumstance — the reasons why this may have happened — until we have more accurate information, is simply not responsible.”
Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned a congressional committee about a heightened risk of extremism linked to the Israel-Hamas war.