(Niagara Falls) The FBI has ended its investigation into a car that caught fire and killed two people at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls after finding no evidence it was an attack terrorist, calming a period of high tensions as Americans prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving.
The FBI’s decision came Wednesday evening, several hours after the vehicle drove through an intersection, struck a median and was thrown into the air before crashing into a line of cabins and exploding on the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls . Local police are now treating the case as a road accident.
“A search of the premises revealed no explosive materials and no links to terrorism were established,” the FBI office in Buffalo said in a statement. The case was turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as part of a traffic investigation. »
A spokesperson for the city of Niagara Falls said the investigation was taken over by the local police department’s accident management unit.
The two people who died were a couple, 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 information about the victims. The identities of the man and woman in the car have not yet been released.
The accident led to the closure of the Rainbow Bridge and three other bridges connecting Western New York and Ontario.
Hours later, authorities sought to ease concerns about one of the busiest travel days of the year.
“Based on what we know at this time,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at a press conference, “there is no sign of terrorist activity in this accident. »
Mme Hochul, a Democrat, said the car was “basically incinerated” with only the engine and some charred debris remaining.
Later Wednesday evening, New York Senator Chuck Schumer said investigators had found “no connection to any terrorist or criminal group.” He added that there was no evidence of chemicals or substances used in explosives when investigators sampled the scene.
The Rainbow Bridge is crossed by approximately 6,000 vehicles each day, according to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory.
Witness Rickie Wilson, a Niagara Falls tour guide, was standing by his car parked nearby and turned around when he saw something in the air.
“At first I thought it was a plane. It felt like slow motion, he said. I said, “My God, it’s a car. It’s a vehicle and it flies through the air.” »