Vehicle explosion at U.S.-Canada border prompts tightened security at many sites
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There was word of heightened security airports across the country Wednesday – including O'Hare and Midway international airports in Chicago – after two people were killed in a vehicle explosion on a U.S.-Canada border crossing.
The explosion happened Wednesday afternoon at Rainbow Bridge, a U.S.-Canada border crossing near Niagara Falls, in western New York upstate. Officials said four U.S.-Canada border crossings in the region were closed as investigators responded to the situation. Three crossings later reopened, with Rainbow Bridge remaining closed.
Two people died inside the vehicle that exploded. It is not yet known why the Bentley exploded, but New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news conference Wednesday that at this time "there is no sign of terrorist involvement" in the "horrific" explosion.
FBI Buffalo on Wednesday night said it had concluded its investigation of the incident and found no explosive materials or "terrorism nexus."
"The matter has been turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation," the FBI said in a statement.
Hochul said the vehicle was "incinerated" by the crash, with nothing remaining intact but its engine. She added that pieces of the car were scattered over 13 to 14 border security booths.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, there were no major delays or cancellations at O'Hare Wednesday afternoon and evening, and there did not appear to be anything out of the normal in terms of security.
But with federal officials trying to figure out if the car blast in upstate New York was deliberate or not, security experts across the country, and including O'Hare and Midway, is elevated.
If security was beefed up, airport officials did not explain how. But extra parking enforcement workers were seen moving vehicles along outside Terminal 1 at O'Hare late Wednesday afternoon.
We know vehicles sometimes wait to pick up people in arrivals at O'Hare. But in light of the explosion, don't expect to suit for long if you're coming to the airport.
We have also reached out to the FBI and the Chicago Department of Aviation for additional information.
Travelers said concerns about security were not what they wanted to hear before heading to the airport.
"That's shocking. You don't expect to hear that. I never would expect to walk into the airport and hear that right now, so that's kind of scary," said traveler Claud Thomas. "It does make you think twice about, you know, coming out on the big holidays like this – a little scarier than normal."
There had been conflicting early reports about which direction the car was traveling, but Wednesday afternoon a senior U.S. law enforcement official told CBS News the car was coming from the U.S. side. The official said it hit the customs station.
A short clip of security camera footage posted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows the car speeding and going airborne.
Hochul said a border patrol officer who was in the customs station suffered minor injures and was taken to a hospital, treated and released.
Preliminary federal government assessments and law enforcement sources indicate that the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it hit a curb, leading it to crash through a fence and a Customs and Border Protection inspection area, where it caught fire and exploded. Witnesses have told authorities that the vehicle launched into the air when it hit the fence and then exploded when it landed, a law enforcement source tells CBS News' Pat Milton.
"The car was coming flying back here like over 100 miles an hour," said Mike Guenther, a Canadian resident visiting New York state. "We could hardly see him -- he was going that quick."
The bridge is less than a mile from Niagara Falls. It is a popular border crossing that caught those in the area by surprise.
"It looked like he hit the fence and the fire started, and then all of a sudden, he went up in the air - and it was a ball of fire, like 30 or 40 feet high," said Guenther. "Never seen anything like it."
Federal authorities had to make sure the explosion was not something more nefarious – with the crash happening on Thanksgiving eve. For several hours, all border crossings were shut down.
"Initially, it was precautionary - after we determined that there was no additional threat," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Director of Operations Rose Brophy.
By late Wednesday night, all crossings were back open – except for the where the crash occurred.
"At this time, there is no indication of a terrorist attack," Hochul said.
The driver of the car was from western New York state. CBS affiliate WIVB-TV, Buffalo reported the couple was believed to be on their way to a concert in Toronto when for reasons unknown, their Bentley lost control.
A Border Patrol officer was injured, but officials said he was largely protected by a security booth.
The exact cause of the crash remained under investigation late Wednesday.