Four border crossings between western New York state and Canada were shut down on Wednesday due to a car explosion that killed two people at a tollbooth at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, New York, on Wednesday.
At first, several media agencies were informed by US and Canadian law enforcement officials that the incident was probably an intended terrorist strike. But subsequently, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York said there was “no indication of a terrorist attack.”
According to Hochul, “there is no indication of terrorist activity in this crash, as of right now.”
Fox News later withdrew its first report that said explosives were discovered in the car that was trying to crash into the building housing the border officers. After a preliminary inspection, no secondary explosive or device was discovered, law enforcement sources informed NBC.
According to national security sources who spoke to CTV, Canadian government officials are acting on the presumption that the incident was connected to terrorism. The “evolving” scenario, according to Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, prevented him from publicly addressing the cause of the explosion.
In a post on X (previously Twitter), the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office stated that it was looking into a “vehicle explosion” in cooperation with local law enforcement and described the situation as “very fluid.”
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The car sped the wrong way into the border crossing’s inspection booths, witnesses said the local news site the Niagara Gazette, and it exploded.
A 27-year-old guy is said to have been admitted to Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital with minor wounds and back pain. It is said that one border officer was hurt and that the other two occupants of the automobile that exploded have died.
The Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition reports that the event happened on the American side of the bridge around 11:51 a.m. local time.
To further investigate the event, authorities have closed Whirlpool Bridge, Peace Bridge, and Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in addition to Rainbow Bridge. In the lead-up to Thursday’s US Thanksgiving holiday, border crossings have been exceptionally congested. Authorities with Fox News claim that nearby government facilities have also been evacuated.
