Vehicle explosion kills two near border bridge between Canada and United States

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke of “a very serious situation” on Wednesday.

A vehicle explosion occurred on Wednesday, November 22, at a border bridge between Canada and the United States. The explosion killed two people and was not linked to a “terrorist activity”said the governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, in the evening.

“There is no evidence at this stage that this is a terrorist activity,” Kathy Hochul told the press, speaking of a “horrible incident, an accident [de voiture]an explosion (…) but at this stage no proven terrorist link”added the head of the state executive, confirming the death of the two people who were in the car at the Rainbow Bridge.

“The situation is obviously very serious at Niagara Falls. A vehicle exploded at the Rainbow Bridge,” explained the head of the Canadian government Justin Trudeau in front of Parliament. “There are still a lot of questions and we are trying to get answers as quickly as possible,” he added.“This is obviously a very serious situation”confirmed the Canadian Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc and reports the American media CNN.

Enhanced security

The White House said it had informed President Joe Biden of the explosion. The US city of Niagara Falls said on its Facebook page that the Rainbow Bridge is closed “until further notice.”

A witness, interviewed by CBS, said he saw a car “flying at more than 100 miles per hour (160 km/h)” under the possible influence of an explosion and then seeing a “ball of fire” on the bridge.

The governor of New York State declared on X that the police in her state “works with the FBI Terrorism Unit to monitor all points of entry” in his state. The FBI, New York State Police and US Customs and Border Protection are investigating the scene, CNN reports.

As for the mayor of New York City Eric Adams, hundreds of km to the south, he announced that the “security” would be “reinforced” in the megacity, on the eve of the Thanksgiving long weekend when millions of Americans travel to celebrate with family.