Vehicle explosion at US-Canada bridge near Niagara Falls kills 2, Trudeau says situation ‘very serious’

A vehicle exploded at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing between the United States and Canada near Niagara Falls on Wednesday (Nov 22).

The FBI  released a statement saying that it is investigating the incident.

“The FBI Buffalo Field Office is investigating a vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge, a border crossing between the US and Canada in Niagara Falls. The FBI is coordinating with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in this investigation. As this situation is very fluid, that’s all we can say at this time,” the statement read.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul took to her official X handle and said that the authorities were “closely monitoring” the incident and that the state agencies were on the site.

“I’ve been briefed on the incident on the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls and we are closely monitoring the situation. State agencies are on site and ready to assist,” she wrote in a posting.

As per local media reports, all four international border crossings in Western New York were closed on Wednesday (Nov 22) after the incident occurred.

As per the report, two people in the vehicle were dead and one border patrol official was wounded in the incident.

The FBI was probing the explosion as an attempted ‘terrorist attack,’ Fox News said on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

The Niagara Gazette newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said the car dashed onto the bridge plaza, tore through a fence dividing the inbound lanes from the outbound lanes, and toward the inspection lanes, where it burst into flames.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the vehicle explosion at the Canada-US border crossing near Niagara Falls “a very serious situation.”

“This is obviously a very serious situation at Niagara Falls. There was a vehicle explosion at the Rainbow Bridge crossing,” he told the House of Commons.

“I’ve been briefed by the NSA and the Minister of Public Safety, CBSA, RCMP and Transport Canada are all fully engaged and providing the necessary support,” Trudeau said.

“We are in close contact with U.S. officials and will continue to work closely with them. We will continue to be engaged. We will provide updates. Updates I can give right now is there are four border crossings that are right now closed. Rainbow Bridge, Whirlpool Bridge, Queensland Bridge and Peace Bridge. Additional measures are being contemplated and activated at all border crossings across the country. We are taking this extraordinarily seriously,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a post on X said that the law enforcement teams in Canada were “actively engaged in assessing the situation”.

(With inputs from agencies)