Rainbow Bridge Blast Witness Describes Car 'Flying Over 100 Miles an Hour'

A witness to Wednesday's deadly vehicle explosion on the U.S.-Canada border says that he saw a car "flying" through the air at "over 100 miles an hour" before exploding on the Rainbow Bridge.

Authorities said that two unidentified residents of western New York state, who were both inside the vehicle, were killed when the car crashed into a checkpoint on the American side of the border at Niagara Falls shortly before noon Wednesday.

While the exact cause remained unknown, New York Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters at a press conference Wednesday evening that the preliminary results of an ongoing investigation had revealed "no sign of terrorist activity in this crash," stressing that "there is no indication of a terrorist attack."

Mike Guenther, of Kitchener, Ontario, told Buffalo NBC affiliate WGRZ that he and his wife were walking on the U.S. side of the border when he saw a car speeding toward the bridge just before the explosion. He said that the car was lofted high into the air after striking a fence.

"We were walking up the road and we [saw] this car coming down towards the border," Guenther said. "And he was flying, over 100 miles an hour. There was a car in front of him. He swerved out, went in front of the car, hit the fence [and] went flying up in the air."

"I've never seen anything like this," he added. "It was just incredible. The fire was so high up in the air. My only concern was I hope nobody else got hurt. Because if anybody was in the way, I don't think they would have survived."

Guenther went on to say that he saw the vehicle catch fire initially when it struck the barrier before launching into the air. He said that there was a "big noise" at the point of impact, alongside flames that were "at least 30 feet" tall and left "nothing but smoke" in their wake.

An additional witness, tour guide Rickie Wilson, also said that the car was flying high in the air before landing on the bridge, telling reporters that he had mistaken it for "an airplane" at first and that it seemed like something from "a movie."

Hochul said during her press conference that the car "immediately exploded" when colliding with a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) booth. She said that one nearby CBP officer received minor injuries and was quickly released after being treated at a local hospital.

The governor went on to say that she saw a video of the "airborne vehicle," which had been traveling at an "extraordinarily high rate of speed" just before it crashed, calling the images "absolutely surreal." She said that the video would be released to the public "shortly."

"It was so surreal to see how high in the air this vehicle went," Hochul said. "And then the crash and explosion and the fire ... When you see this video, your jaw will drop in disbelief at how this went so high, over an 8-foot fence."

"It's going to take a long time for our federal law enforcement partners to be able to piece together the real story," she added.

The FBI's Buffalo field office announced that it was working on a "very fluid" investigation with local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies shortly after the crash.

Newsweek reached out to the FBI via email Wednesday night and the bureau declined comment.

Before officials released details about the incident, Fox News reported that it was a "suspected terror attack," with an unnamed source claiming that "explosives" were involved and "high-level officials" asserting that the vehicle had been waiting in line to cross the border. The outlet later withdrew the claims and reported that the cause was unknown.

Some Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Representatives Andy Biggs, Mike Kelly and Claudia Tenney, were also quick to assume that the explosion was a terror attack, while attempting to blame President Joe Biden's border policies.