U.S. officials said there was no indication of a link to terrorism from a car crash Wednesday at a checkpoint in Niagara Falls, New York, which killed two people inside the vehicle and prompted authorities to close multiple checkpoints amid questions about what happened.
Exactly what caused the car to approach the checkpoint at a high rate of speed before flying into the air, crashing into the ground and bursting into flames remained unclear early Thursday.
“A search of the scene revealed no explosive materials, and no terrorism nexus was identified,” the FBI’s Buffalo office said in a statement.
The crash happened as the car traveled from the U.S. side toward the checkpoint that leads onto the Rainbow Bridge, which links the United States and Canada, and took place on one of the busiest travel days in the U.S. ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day holiday.
U.S. police said Thursday they were still investigating the crash. The Niagara Falls Police Department’s Crash Management Unit has taken over the investigation.
“Due to the complexity of the incident, the investigation will take some time to complete,” Niagara Falls Police Department Superintendent John Faso said in a statement. “At this time the identity of those involved is pending positive identification and notification to next of kin.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed the Rainbow Bridge but said late Wednesday it had reopened three other crossings — the Peace Bridge, Whirlpool Bridge and Lewiston Bridge — after temporarily suspending traffic at those sites “out of an abundance of caution.”
In addition to the two people killed, a law enforcement official speaking on the condition of anonymity, told VOA that an employee from the CBP Office of Field Operations was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and later released.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “I want to be very, very clear to Americans and New Yorkers. At this time, there is no indication of a terrorist attack.”
Hochul visited the scene of the incident, which she described as “horrific.”
“You actually had to look at it and say, ‘Was this generated by A.I.?’ because it was so surreal to see how high in the air this vehicle went and then the crash and explosion and the fire,” she said about the video of the crash.
The White House said President Joe Biden was informed of the incident, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told parliament, “This is obviously a very serious situation in Niagara Falls.”
Trudeau excused himself from Question Period in the House of Commons to be briefed further, saying, “We are taking this extraordinarily seriously.”
VOA’s National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to the story. Also some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
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