Reports about this are just coming in so the usual rules apply here, i.e. some of the early reports may turn out to be wrong. So far what we’re seeing looks very unusual to say the least. A vehicle of some kind exploded at a bridge spanning the border between the US and Canada in Niagara Falls, New York. The bridge is now closed and the FBI announced it is investigating a “vehicle explosion.”
#FBI Buffalo statement on investigation at the Rainbow Bridge: pic.twitter.com/jRaGLL8sU8
— FBI Buffalo (@FBIBuffalo) November 22, 2023
So what happened here? A local news outlet has some eyewitness reports:
Traveling down Niagara Street, the car reportedly sped the wrong way into the inspection booths, where the explosion occurred…
Two witnesses who were present in the area when the incident happened told the Gazette that they heard a loud noise that sounded like an explosion and saw a large cloud of smoke near the inspections station on Wednesday morning shortly before police arrived on the scene.
Video and photos from the scene make it seem like this was a pretty large explosion.
An explosion just occurred at #NiagraFalls Rainbow Bridge area. Don’t know what happened but we’ve been evacuated. pic.twitter.com/KEVOGyLqxW
— ⚽Acid Phase⚽ (@AC1DPHA5E) November 22, 2023
This person is suggesting this could be terrorism but to be clear no authorities have said that yet. But look at the damage.
Breaking news: Possible terror attack rainbow Bridge Niagra falls. #NYS pic.twitter.com/bIrUUQSmKp
— nycphotog (@nycphotog) November 22, 2023
Some additional photos of the scene.
So some sort of photo at the Rainbow Bridge at Niagra Falls. WTF? pic.twitter.com/l6vjnO8pEZ
— Bobby Lou (@papichuloNine99) November 22, 2023
This is apparently the fire at the scene right after the explosion.
NEW YORK: BREAKING: Car explosion at the Rainbow Bridge, a border crossing between US and Canada in Niagra Falls, on one of the busiest travel days of the year. The bridge is closed till further notice. pic.twitter.com/yznXMEdr2K
— KolHaolam (@KolHaolam) November 22, 2023
As a result of this, all four of the crossing points between New York state and Canada have been closed. And here’s the first report I’ve seen connecting this to terrorism. This is coming from an unidentified police source via a Fox News reporter.
Fox News reports that the explosion at a Niagra Falls border crossing was an “attempted terrorist attack” per “high-level police sources.” pic.twitter.com/OBY4MYRqV6
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) November 22, 2023
Here’s the reporter who got this:
High level police sources tell me this is an attempted terrorist attack. Sources say the car was full of explosives. Both men inside dead. https://t.co/RYTIJ3WzHk
— Alexis McAdams (@AlexisMcAdamsTV) November 22, 2023
The Niagara Gazette is also reporting that two people in the car were killed.
Traveling down Niagara Street, the car sped onto the bridge plaza, went through a fence separating the inbound lanes from the outbound lanes, and toward the inspection lanes where it exploded, according to law enforcement sources.
Two occupants in the car were killed in the explosion.
Gov. Hochul is heading to the scene.
At my direction, @nyspolice is actively working with the @FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to monitor all points of entry to New York.
I am traveling to Buffalo to meet with law enforcement & emergency responders & will update New Yorkers when more information becomes available.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) November 22, 2023
More photos of the scene.
JUST IN: Unbelievable photos from the Rainbow Bridge vehicle explosion. 📸: One Niagara Welcome Center pic.twitter.com/ghKfi1S0VN
— Stephen Marth (@StephenMarth) November 22, 2023
This eyewitness saw the car drive past him heading for the bridge. He said it seemed to be going 100 miles per hour and was fishtailing from the speed. He described the car hitting a fence and then launching into the air before exploding in a massive fireball.
Update: One of the things I’ve been looking for in the coverage is any sense of why this happened. I haven’t seen anything yet but Beege happened to catch this CBS report last night and sent it to me.
.@CBSNews obtained intel alert which points to “an increasing terrorist threat to New York State” tied to Israel-Hamas war” + the “increase in civilian casualties raises the likelihood that violent extremist threat actors will seek to conduct attacks…”pic.twitter.com/Rkgk2ZiNKK
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) November 22, 2023
Update: Video of the explosion.
NEW: Security camera shows car bombing at the U.S.-Canadian border in Niagara Falls pic.twitter.com/wDrZXYGyNv
— BNO News (@BNONews) November 22, 2023
President Biden has been briefed.
The President has been briefed on the vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge Port of Entry. He and his team are closely following developments.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) November 22, 2023
Update: CTV News, a Canadian outlet, is reporting that Canadian government officials are assuming this was a terror attack.
National security sources tell CTV News that government officials are operating under the assumption that the vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls is terror-related.
A meeting of all security related organizations and departments is happening now, including the Canada Border Services Agency, the RCMP, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s National Security and Intelligence Advisor.
The Independent reports that US officials are investigating this as an attempted terror attack.
A vehicle explosion that closed all four international border crossings between the United States and Canada in New York near Niagara Falls is being investigated as an attempted terrorist attack.
I’ll continue to update this later if there are new developments. At some point we will probably get a press conference from someone today.
Update: Another new video shows the car launching into the air, just as the eyewitness claimed.
New video shows car crashing into checkpoint at the U.S.-Canadian border pic.twitter.com/cTmCOhsPPD
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) November 22, 2023
And here we go with a walk back from Fox News. Now saying this may not be a terror attack but the explosion of the car seemed unusual.
Fox’s Alexis McAdams walks back her reporting from several hours ago that the Niagara explosion was being treated as a terrorist attack, says her sources have “walked back that it was a possible terrorist attack but say they’ve never seen a car explode in that way.” pic.twitter.com/S6Yof4DzY2
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) November 22, 2023
And here’s the revised version of the Fox News story:
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams was told by sources that the explosion was so big and fierce, that authorities first thought it was a terrorist attack.
The NY Times is reporting that the car did not contain explosives:
A preliminary investigation has found that the car did not contain explosives, according to three law enforcement officials with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an open investigation.
In a follow up, a law enforcement official said the explosion was caused by the car going airborne and striking a pillar. So are we back to this being just a car crash?
Update: The Governor says there’s no indication this was terrorism.
An explosion that killed two people in a car that crashed at the US-Canada Rainbow Bridge border crossing does not appear to be terror-related, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
“I want to be very, very clear to Americans and New Yorkers, at this time there is no indication of a terrorist attack,” the governor told reporters at a Wednesday conference.
Also, authorities aren’t sure there were two people in the car anymore.
Authorities are trying to determine if the person the car is registered to and the driver found at the scene are the same person, but the condition of the remains has made it difficult for authorities to determine the identity of the driver, multiple sources told CNN.
It has also created a challenge for authorities in assessing if there were one or two people in the car. Law enforcement originally believed there were two individuals in the car, but later said they were not certain.
So a lot of the early reports may have been wrong. This doesn’t appear to be terrorism which still leaves us with another question left to answer: Why was someone driving 100mph toward a border crossing?
Read the full article here