Police Identify Rainbow Bridge Crash Victims and Details of Car

The car that exploded this week at a border bridge in Niagara Falls, N.Y., was a 2022 Bentley Flying Spur, the authorities said on Friday, an ultraluxury model capable of reaching a speed of 60 miles per hour in four seconds.

The police identified Kurt P. Villani as the driver and his wife, Monica Villani, as a passenger. The couple, both 53 and from Grand Island, owned several businesses in western New York and were headed to a concert in Toronto before the fatal crash, which remained unexplained.

The base model Flying Spur was powered by an eight-cylinder engine generating 542 horsepower and weighed 5,137 pounds, according to specifications from Edmunds, which provides data about automobiles for consumers. Used models cost more than $200,000, and Car and Driver magazine said that “the Flying Spur’s unbeatable blend of luxury and performance comes with an eye-watering six-figure price tag.”

Speculation had been percolating online about the car’s make and model since the incident occurred just before noon on Wednesday, and investigators were exploring whether a mechanical problem had caused the car to accelerate out of control. The vehicle was shown on video moving toward the bridge at a shocking speed before striking a median and taking flight. It burst into flames on impact and shattered, strewing metal over a wide debris field.

Erin Bronner, a spokeswoman for the Americas arm of Bentley Motors, said on Friday that she could not release information about the Villanis’ car.

Ms. Bronner said the incident was not tied to a recall in 2021 of some models over a risk that their accelerator pedals could become stuck. She said there had been no such problem on left-hand drive cars — the kind sold in the United States and Canada.

The Niagara Falls police took over the investigation after the Federal Bureau Investigation concluded on Wednesday that the crash was not related to terrorism, despite initial fears and a sweeping response by the local, state and federal authorities, including closure of several border crossings.

Robert Restaino, the mayor of Niagara Falls, said that investigators believed the couple had originally been headed to a Kiss concert, which was called off about three and a half hours before showtime because of a band member’s illness.

The police department’s accident reconstruction team was tracing the couple’s journey from a casino downtown to the border crossing, examining surveillance video, the scene of the crash and other evidence collected by the federal authorities.

After the Villanis left the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, just to the east of the city’s famous waterfalls, they hit a median and crashed into a border control booth, sending the Flying Spur shooting into the air. The explosion, initially feared to be a terror attack, sent government and law enforcement officials racing to determine what had happened. A worker in the checkpoint booth had minor injuries.

The Villanis were well known in Grand Island, a generally affluent town of about 21,500 people that sits just north of Buffalo and midstream in the Niagara, where residents were shocked, said Nate McMurray, the former town supervisor, who still has a home there. A family business, their Ace Hardware store, Gui’s Lumber, has several locations in western New York and on Grand Island.

“It’s not like a Home Depot,” Mr. McMurray said. “It’s more of a community place.”

Efforts to reach the victims’ family by phone and in person were unsuccessful.

Mr. McMurray said that he had received dozens of messages since the crash from shocked Grand Islanders. “People are like, ‘Oh my God, what happened?’” Mr. McMurray said.

Law enforcement and forensic experts were asking the same question after the violent crash and explosion, which left little remaining of the car but a burn scar.

Paul Lane contributed reporting from Grand Island, N.Y.