Two people died on Wednesday, November 22, following the explosion of a vehicle at the Rainbow Bridge between Canada and the United States, two judicial sources announced. to the Associated Press agency and New York Times.
The cause of the explosion, near Niagara Falls (New York State, in the northeast of the country), has not yet been determined. But the regional office of the FBI, the American federal police, announced that the searches had not made it possible to find “no explosive material and no terrorist links”. The investigation into these facts relating to the traffic accident was entrusted to the local police, he added.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, initially mentioned “a very serious situation at Niagara Falls”. “There are still a lot of questions and we are trying to get answers as quickly as possible”, explained the head of the Canadian government to Parliament. The White House, for its part, said it had informed President Joe Biden of the explosion.
The American city of Niagara Falls announced on its Facebook page that the Rainbow Bridge is closed ” until further notice “. Traffic at the Buffalo airport, not far from Niagara Falls, was also temporarily suspended.
A car was traveling at very high speed
Hours after the incident, authorities had already announced that investigators had found no evidence of a terrorist act, although the circumstances of the accident remain unclear.
A video of the incident recorded by a CCTV camera and broadcast on the social network the border. The vehicle then collided with an object and rose into the air before falling to the ground and catching fire after exploding.
The driver of the vehicle and a passenger died in the crash and a CBP officer suffered minor injuries. Authorities have not revealed the identities of those who lost their lives in the accident. CNN reported that the driver, a 56-year-old man, and his wife were on their way to a concert by the rock band Kiss. The band was scheduled to perform in Toronto on Wednesday, but the concert was canceled after one of the members fell ill.
The three border crossings that had been closed as a precaution after the incident reopened in the evening. The Rainbow Bridge remained closed to allow the work of investigators.