The Rainbow Bridge, the bridge that connects the United States and Canada, is blocked after a car explosion at a checkpoint near Niagara Falls.
“The FBI is investigating an attempted terrorist attack,” Fox News said, citing its sources. While Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said it was too early to say whether it was a “premeditated attack.”
A spokesperson for Niagara Falls Mayor Aaron Ferguson’s office confirmed to CNN that the vehicle was attempting to enter the United States: “We don’t know much, just that there was a vehicle attempting to enter the United States . “They blocked both sides of the bridge.”
According to CNN’s initial reconstruction, the car, coming from the Canadian side of the border with the United States, exploded shortly before noon after accelerating during the screening process at the checkpoint while heading toward a secondary screening area. Authorities do not currently know what caused the explosion. Federal authorities are trying to recover videos from different angles because witness accounts vary.
An Ontario witness, Mike Guenther, told the BBC he saw the car accelerate to 100 miles per hour (160 km per hour), then fly into the air and explode in a “ball of fire.”
Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were briefed on the events on the Rainbow Bridge. The White House is monitoring the situation “closely.” “We are in close contact with the American authorities,” confirmed the Canadian president, who also said Canada was examining “additional measures” to make crossings safer.
Ron Rienas, general manager of the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, told ABC News that all four bridges between Canada and the United States over the Niagara River are closed out of an abundance of caution.
The two passengers in the vehicle lost their lives and there were other explosives inside the vehicle that did not explode. A police officer and a 27-year-old bystander were also injured and taken to Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital with injuries that were described as non-serious, Fox News reports.
Following the Rainbow Bridge incident, alarm was also raised in New York in view of the Thanksgiving holiday, where Mayor Eric Adams decided to increase security: “Security in the city will be strengthened, including entry and exit points.” As a precautionary measure Authorities also decided to close the nearby Buffalo Airport. The airport on the U.S.-Canada border is closed to all arriving and departing international flights, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Article is being updated…