NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A border crossing between the U.S. and Canada has been closed after a vehicle exploded at a checkpoint on a bridge in Niagara Falls, authorities said.
The blast happened on the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge, which connects the two countries across the Niagara River. Three other bridges between western New York and Ontario were quickly closed as a precaution.
Breaking news: International border crossings between the United States and Canada in Western New York were closed Wednesday due to an explosion involving a vehicle attempting to enter the U.S. pic.twitter.com/6qglBHkc6X
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) November 22, 2023
Photos and video taken by bystanders and posted on social media showed thick smoke, flames on the pavement, and a security booth that had been singed by flames.
Videos showed that the fire was in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection area just east of the main vehicle checkpoint.
Fox reports that the “vehicle explosion” at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls between U.S. and Canada was an “attempted terrorist attack” with “a lot of explosives in the vehicle at the time.” pic.twitter.com/zm77YWbNmo
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) November 22, 2023
The FBI’s field office in Buffalo said in a statement that it was investigating the explosion.
Speaking to WGRZ-TV, Mike Guenther said he saw a vehicle speeding toward the crossing from the U.S. side of the border when it swerved to avoid another car, crashed into a fence and exploded.
“All of a sudden he went up in the air and then it was a ball of fire like 30 or 40 feet high,” Guenther told the station. “I never saw anything like it.”
Video shows smoke rising near Rainbow Bridge along the U.S.-Canada border near Niagara Falls, where the FBI is investigating a vehicle explosion at the crossing. https://t.co/uC3hmRaBUl pic.twitter.com/Vx2SGsh7IQ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 22, 2023
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had been briefed on the incident and was “closely monitoring the situation.”
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The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission reported that all four of its crossings — the others are Lewiston, Whirlpool and Peace Bridge — were closed.
Further information wasn’t immediately available on the cause of the explosion.
