THE FBI Terror Squad has launched an investigation after a speeding vehicle crashed into an inspection booth on a bridge linking the United States with Canada and exploded, leaving two dead.
The horror blast involving a suspected reckless driver on the New York State side of Rainbow Bridge was reported at 11:27 am on Wednesday.
Surveillance footage captured the moment the vehicle crashed into an inspection booth at a high rate of speed before taking flight and going up in flames, leaving two people in the car dead.
A Border Patrol officer was injured when the vehicle exploded, The New York Times reported.
Investigators did not find explosive devices in the vehicle after conflicting reports claimed the incident may have been a terrorist attack, four senior law enforcement officials told MSNBC.
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Officials believe the explosion resulted from the impact of the collision, The New York Times reported, citing sources.
A suitcase was found near the car but did not contain any explosive devices, according to the outlet.
The FBI is investigating the origin of the blast.
The harrowing incident led to a mass police presence and the shutdown of Rainbow Bridge just a day before the busy Thanksgiving holiday.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul identified the driver as a local West New York resident.
"No sign of terrorist activity with respect to this crash," Hochul clarified during an afternoon press conference.
Hochul said the driver was traveling at an “extraordinarily high rate of speed” before the car crashed into a median and flew over a fence that was eight feet high.
"When you see this video your jaw will drop," Hochul told reporters.
A motive behind the crash was not immediately disclosed.
Investigators conducted a video canvass of the surrounding area in the hours after the incident and found the car apparently at a nearby New York casino, sources told CNN.
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'BALL OF FIRE'
Witness Mike Guenther said he and his wife were walking near the bridge when they saw a speeding vehicle approaching the border into Canada.
Guenther, who was visiting the US from Ontario, told NBC affiliate WGRZ that the vehicle swerved and hit a fence before flying up in the air, and a ball of fire emerged.
"We were walking up the road, and we've seen this car coming down towards the border, and he was flying - over 100 mph," Guenther said.
"There was a car in front of him, he swerved out, went in front of the car, hit the fence, went flying up into the air, and we've just seen the fireball that's all we could see, smoke everywhere."
Governor Hochul said in a statement that State Police are working with an FBI Terrorism Task Force to investigate the incident.
"I have been briefed on the situation that occurred at the Rainbow Bridge in Buffalo," Governor Hochul said in a statement.
"At my direction, the New York State Police is actively working with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to monitor all points of entry to New York.
"I am traveling to Buffalo to meet with law enforcement and emergency responders and will update New Yorkers when more information becomes available."
Images and video from the border control scene showed a fire and what was thought to be debris scattered across the ground.
'OH MY GOD, THE CAR EXPLODED'
Witnesses who were in the US Customs and Immigration building next to the bridge were away and ordered to walk back over the bridge and leave their cars on the US side to be checked, according to the Daily Mail.
"There was an explosion just by the tall building you go in. My own van was parked so close to the car that exploded," one man, who had crossed over the bridge with his family, told the outlet.
"When the explosion happened, we heard it like a loud boom.
"I heard it, but I didn't think it was something serious. Someone said, 'Oh my god, the car exploded.'
"We all went to watch. Then the US border and customs officials came out of their glass room and then I grabbed my phone, said I need to film this before they start moving us away from here."
"The FBI Buffalo Field Office is investigating a vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge, a border crossing between the US and Canada in Niagara Falls," the FBI field office said in a statement.
"The FBI is coordinating with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners in this investigation.
"As this situation is very fluid, that's all we can say at this time," the bureau said.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters on Wednesday that his team is taking the incident very seriously.
"This is obviously a very serious situation,“ LeBlanc said.
“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."
The two other bridges that connect the US and Canada in western New York, Peace Bridge, and Lewiston-Queenston, have since been reopened to drivers.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the explosion and is monitoring any developments, according to the White House.
