New York police looking at terrorism as reason behind deadly Rochester crash that killed two

A fierce vehicle collisionwhich took the lives of two peopleon New Year's Day (Jan 1) outside an entertainment venue in upstate New York is being investigated as possible terrorism,a law enforcement source said while speaking to ABC News.

As per the city's police chief David Smith, two people lost their lives while five others suffered injuries after a Mitsubishi Outlander – which was standing in the parking lot near the Kodak Center in Rochester – was hit by a Ford Expedition, as stated by the city's police chief, David Smith.

Smith said that the collision took place around 12:50 am local time on Monday (Jan 1) close to the crosswalk at a time when concertgoers were exiting the venue.

"The force of the collision caused the two vehicles to go through a group of pedestrians that were in the crosswalk, and then into two other vehicles," said Smithat a press briefing on Monday (Jan 1). "There was a large fire associated with the crash that took the Rochester Fire Department almost one hour to extinguish,” he added.

The chief said that two people sitting inside a Mitsubishi Outlander were killed in the accident and the driver was sent to a local hospital after he suffered non-life-threatening injuries. He added that the Ford Expedition's driver was hospitalised with life-threatening injuries.

Smith said that three pedestrians were hit in the crash and were admitted to a local hospital - one was reported to be in life-threatening condition and two had suffered non-life-threatening injuries, said Smith. The police have not released any additional details regarding the victims.

The police chief said that the first responders had discovered at least a dozen gasoline canisters in and near the Ford Expedition after extinguishing the fire. "We are continuing to work with our federal partners, including the FBI, to learn exactly what led to this crash," Smith added.

Joint Terrorism Task Force leads investigation

The law enforcement source said that the Joint Terrorism Task Force has been leading the investigation. The official said that the authorities are not yet certain if this was a case of terrorism, however, they are investigating the case to determine what happened and why.

Watch:New York to be under drone surveillance on New year's eve

The source said that the investigators are currently investigating the social media and devices of the driver of the Ford Expedition and have been speaking to his relatives and friends to see if they can bring together additional information which might explain why there were so many gas cans there.

As per the law enforcement officials, the driver was from Syracuse and was driving his own vehicle to the Syracuse airport where the extra-large SUV was rented by him. The officials said that the Mitsubishi Outlander, which was involved in the crash, was an Uber.

Rochester Mayor Malik Evans and local police appealed to people to provide them with more information, if they have any. "I know that the community will have lots of questions as it relates to this. I ask them to continue to stay tuned," said Evans during Monday's briefing. "More information will come out as we are able to,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)