Wealthy Long Island couple Kurt and Monica Villani, both 53, identified as the driver and passenger killed in horror Rainbow Bridge Bentley explosion

Kurt and Monica Villani, were driving a luxury Bentley sedan in Wednesday’s crash on the Rainbow bridge when the car crashed at one of the immigration booths 

The pair were both killed when the vehicle crashed at an immigration gate – Friends say Kurt had complained spoken of having problems with the gas pedal in the weeks prior 

The couple is survived by their adult children children, Kurt Jr., 26, and Mia, 27  

New York business man Kurt Villani, [photo], and his wife Monica, both 53, were both killed in a a fiery blaze on Wednesday when their Bentley lost control and crashed on Rainbow Bridge

The couple killed in a fiery crash on Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday have been named as Kurt and Monica Villani. . Kurt P. and Monica Villani of Grand Island, New York. The Villanis are the owners of Gui’s Lumber/Ace Hardware in Niagra Falls, NY among their other businesses.
The couple, both 53, were identified by Niagara Falls Police Department on Friday. 
The pair had been on their way to a KISS concert when the booming explosion that sent debris into the air occurred, sparking fears of a terror attack and shutting down the US-Canada border crossing for hours. 
It remains unconfirmed what exactly led to the accident. 
The pair were in a Bentley being driven by Kurt Villani. The two occupants of the car, later revealed to be the Villanis, were found dead inside the vehicle, sources said.

The Villanis white Bentley is shown driving towards the bridge on Wednesday morning. Kurt and Monica Villani both died in the crash that happened seconds after the sighting 

A Border Patrol officer who was in the checkpoint booth at the time was injured in the explosion, and then treated at a hospital and released.
Kurt had told friends there was a problem with the vehicle’s accelerator in the weeks before the accident.
Investigators believe the car had been heading from New York to Ontario when the driver, who was going at an “extraordinarily high rate of speed,” crashed into a median on the US side, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a press conference.
The explosion caused the closure of the Rainbow Bridge border crossing, as well as three others in the area as a precaution. The crash set off fears of an attempted terror attack although New York Governor Kathy Hochul has since confirmed that there is no evidence of this. The governor referred to the victims as ‘local individuals.’ 
In a later statement New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “Based on what we know at this moment, there is no sign of terrorist activity in this crash.”

Flames seen belching from one of the the immigration booths at the US-Canada border crossing after the car explosion at the Rainbow bridge on Wednesday, Nov. 22

Villani and his wife Monica, residents of Grand Island, New York, lived less than ten miles south of the crash scene. The couple who married in May 1995 are survived by their two adult children, Kurt Jr. 26, and daughter, Mia, 27. 
Police have said that the couple were seen leaving the Seneca Niagara Casino, close to the border crossing, before crashing. 
On Thursday, members of the community on Grand Island paid tribute to the pair as a generous and thoughtful couple.
‘You know, just plowing everybody’s driveway for the love of it, you know what I mean? Just always willing to help and lend a hand. Always. always, always. They were just so very, kind wonderful people,’ said resident Mary Meyer.
Chuck Meyer added: ‘Without ever being asked, they would just be giving and gifting, and that’s the type of people we lost.’
Kurt and his son, Kurt Jr., were also celebrated by local news outlets in 2014 after giving out 250 turkeys on Thanksgiving. It is a tradition his father, Kurt M. Villani, started.  

The enormous explosion happened when the car crashed at an immigration checkpoint. Video captured the moment the car went airborne, the impact sending debris flying in the air

New York law enforcement sealed off the entrance to the bridge after the explosion

The Villani family who own a range of properties in the Grand Island-area of New York is best known for operating Gui’s Lumber which has seven locations, including one in Niagara Falls, where Wednesday’s fatal crash took place.
The chain begun by Villani’s father, Kurt M. Villani, in 1986, made headlines across the region in 2015, when they were exonerated following a lengthy investigation by revenue authorities in which they were found to have ‘overpaid’ on some taxes rather than ‘underpaid,’ as had been alleged. 
Incidentally, Wednesday’s tragedy is not the first time a vehicular has claimed the life of a member of the Villani family.
In July 1978, Villani’s grandmother, Lorraine, was killed when she was flung from a boat that was traveling along the Niagara River at 3am. His parents Kurt M. and Gail Villani, were also on board at the time but were unharmed. 
The boat struck a bridge while Lorraine Villani was at the helm. The family later successfully sued the company that built the bridge, after it was found to not have been properly illuminated, for $120,000 in 1984.