GhLinks Media
Kurt & Monica Villani have been identified as the couple’s who lost their lives a fiery crash on Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday.
The couple were named by Niagara Falls Police Department on Friday.
They added: “The incident is currently under investigation by the NFPD Crash Management Unit, no further details are available at this time.
“The City of Niagara Falls would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families as they deal with this tragedy.”
Kurt & Monica Villani age
According to multiple reports online, Kurt & Monica Villani were both 53 years old – this suggest they were born in the year 1970.
Kurt & Monica Villani marriage life and children
The Villani’s were married in May 1995.
They were residents of Grand Island, New York, less than ten miles south of where the crash took place.
The couple is survived by their two children, son, Kurt Jr. and daughter, Mia.
The couple’s son was a hockey prodigy in his youth and was part of the Buffalo Sabres’ organization.
Kurt and his son, 26-year-old 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.
Owners of Gui’s Lumber
The family operated Gui’s Lumber which has seven locations, including one in Niagara Falls, where Wednesday’s fatal crash took place.
The chain began with Villani’s father, Kurt M. Villani, in 1986.
Online records show that the Villani family owns a range of properties in the Grand Island-area.
The Rainbow Bridge crash incident
The crash, which took place just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, shut down the four-vehicle bridges which cross the U.S. and Canada border in western New York and also left one border patrol officer with minor injuries.
Three of the bridges re-opened Wednesday evening, while the Rainbow Bridge re-opened Thursday night around 6:30 p.m.
Video shows the car going at a high rate of speed before appearing to hit something, going airborne, and landing on a structure near the border inspection booths.
The car then exploded, bursting into flames and killing both occupants.
