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The victims of the fatal car crash at a northern border checkpoint in Western New York Wednesday were identified as Kurt Villani and his wife Monica, authorities have revealed.
Kurt Villani was behind the wheel of the speeding Bentley sedan when it went airborne and slammed into a line of booths before bursting into flames at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls Wednesday morning.
He and his wife, both 53 and from Grand Island, New York, were killed instantly.
The blast initially led to fears of a possible terror attack, but federal and state authorities ruled that out hours afterward.
“A search of the scene revealed no explosive materials, and no terrorism nexus was identified,” the FBI’s Buffalo office said in a statement late Wednesday.
The investigation was now in the hands of the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation.
The probe into the crash, which also injured one Border Patrol officer, was expected to “take some time to complete” because of the “complexity of the incident,” Niagara Falls police said in a news release.
Investigators believe the couple might have been heading from a Niagara Falls casino to a Kiss concert in Toronto — that was later cancelled — before the crash, according to sources.
The operators of the casino, Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, said in a statement Thursday it is cooperating with authorities.
“We have reviewed and provided information related to a vehicle that stopped at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino only for a matter of minutes shortly before the crash occurred,” the Seneca Nation said in a statement, according to the Buffalo News.
The crash shut down the Rainbow Bridge and three other bridges that connect Western New York and Ontario on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Security video released by the US Customs and Border Patrol showed the car zoom through an intersection and ram into a low median before going airborne near an inspection booth.
The crash happened out of the camera’s view.
“If you can imagine, this vehicle basically incinerated. Nothing is left but the engine. The pieces are scattered over 13, 14 booths,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.
Witness Rickie Wilson was near his parked car when he turned around and saw the car in the air.
“I first thought it was an airplane. It looked like slow motion,” the Niagara Falls tour guide said. “I said, ‘My God, it’s a car. It’s a vehicle, and it’s flying through the air.’”
With Post wires
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