Canada: What we know about the accidental explosion of a car at the border with the United States

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Mert Alper Dervis / ANADOLU / Anadolu via AFP 15:19 p.m., November 23, 2023

Two people were killed Wednesday when a car accidentally exploded at a U.S.-Canada border bridge near Niagara Falls, alerting security services and authorities in both countries.

The regional office of the FBI, the US federal police, said the search had found "no explosive material and no terrorist links". The investigation into the traffic accident has been handed over to the local police, he added.

The accident took place in Niagara Falls, a city straddling the U.S.-Canada border. Arriving at the scene, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul spoke of a "horrific incident, a (car) accident, an explosion ... but at this stage there is no proven terrorist link." It confirmed the death of the two people who were in the car at the Rainbow Bridge between the United States and Canada.

The car flies away

According to security sources and a witness quoted by US media as well as a video from the X account (ex-Twitter) of the US border authorities, a car was travelling at a very high speed towards the border, before literally flying away, hitting a guardrail or security barrier and exploding.

A Canadian witness visiting the United States, Mark Guenter, interviewed by CBS, said he saw a car "going at more than 100 miles an hour (160 km/h)" and then saw it "hit the guardrail and fly into the air." He said he saw "a ball of fire" and smoke on the deck.

CBP is working closely with @FBI, federal, state & local partners in response to a vehicle explosion at Rainbow Bridge which remains closed. Out of abundance of caution, CBP temporarily suspended inbound/outbound traffic at 3 other Buffalo crossings that have since reopened. pic.twitter.com/pTXyUsavRB

— CBP (@CBP) November 22, 2023

Prior to Governor Kathy Hochul's remarks, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had spoken to his country's Parliament about a "clearly very serious situation at Niagara Falls" after "a vehicle exploded at the Rainbow Bridge." The White House said it had informed President Joe Biden of the explosion.

Rainbow Bridge closed 'until further notice'

"Every time an infrastructure that is so important to Canada and the United States, such as a border crossing, is the site of these kinds of violent events, it is a source of concern for the governments" of both countries, said Dominique LeBlanc, Canada's Minister of Public Safety.

The Canadian and U.S. border towns of Niagara Falls announced on their Facebook pages that the Rainbow Bridge was closed "until further notice," as was Niagara Falls Nature Park and the airport in nearby Buffalo for international flights.

On the American side, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was the first to announce that it was "investigating the explosion of a vehicle at the Rainbow Bridge, a border crossing between the United States and Canada at Niagara Falls", on its X account.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, hundreds of miles to the south, announced that "security" would be "beefed up" in the megacity, on the eve of the Thanksgiving long weekend when millions of Americans travel to celebrate with their families.