New York-Canada Border Car Explosion: What Is Known About the Driver and Passenger Killed

A 56-year-old man was reportedly behind the wheel when his luxury car exploded on a bridge on the U.S.-Canada border Wednesday, killing him and his wife.

The unidentified couple intended to go to a KISS concert in Toronto Wednesday night, when it was canceled last minute due to a band member’s illness, according to reports. Instead, the pair are believed to have visited a New York casino before departing for Niagara Falls in their two-door Bentley Excelsior.

The driver of the vehicle, who was said to live on a “very upscale island" in New York, accelerated at a high rate of speed as he approached a checkpoint and struck a barrier on the Rainbow Bridge, causing the car to explode upon impact, law enforcement analyst John Miller told Wolf Blitzer during an appearance on CNN’s The Situation Room on Wednesday evening.

The fiery crash “does not have any of the earmarks of terrorism,” Miller added. “It looks much more… like a terrible accident.”

There is no indication that a vehicle explosion was terrorist-related, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said at an evening press conference.

Hocul said the investigation is ongoing, but there is no apparent threat to the area.

Former Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, emphasized the collision — which also left a U.S. Customs and Border officer working in a booth injured — did not appear to be intentional.

The details of the crash are “strongly indicative of a terrible accident, a terrible act of reckless or irresponsible driving,” he told Blitzer. 

“You combine that with a car like that Bentley, which is an enormously heavy vehicle and very, very powerful… and the distance that this vehicle traveled, the height that it got over to clear that fence… we're very lucky that we didn't see a greater loss of life,” explained McCabe.

No explosives were recovered from the scene of the crash, authorities confirmed.

The driver is believed to be a gambler with no prior criminal history, who often traveled between the U.S. and Canada, a law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the New York Times.

He and his wife are reportedly American citizens.