US-Canada border explosion not terrorist, traffic accident: Police
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Upon inspection, police confirmed finding no trace of explosives in the car, and rumors of foul play were dismissed by New York Governor Kathleen Hochul.
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In this photo taken from security video, a light-colored vehicle, top left, travels toward the Rainbow Bridge customs plaza, November 22, 2023, in Niagara Falls, New York. (AP)
According to the Daily Mail, the explosion that occurred at the US-Canada border was an alleged car crash by a New York businessman and his wife in a $300,000 Bentley that crashed into a tollbooth crossing, killing both him and her.
Concerns of terrorism were raised at first due to the magnitude of the explosion which happened at 11:27 am local time on Wednesday on Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. A border patrol agent was injured and four toll booths went out of order.
Upon inspection, police reportedly found no trace of explosives in the car, and rumors of foul play were dismissed by New York Governor Kathleen Hochul. She added that the two victims are believed to be local residents, as she ruled out terrorism and said that there has been “no indication based on online threats or anyone taking credit for this.”
🚨🚨🚨NEW VIDEO 🚨🚨🚨🚨
— Kyle.Taylor (@livingbyyyz) November 22, 2023
The Rainbow Bridge VIDEO of incident
📍Niagara Falls NY📍
Car was seen travelling 100mph down “Main St” picture attached, swerved around a car and lost control into the USA side.
You can see from this video the car does not come from the Canada Side. pic.twitter.com/Lb1Q0qmL25
The CCTV footage which spread across social media shows the car speeding up before crashing into a checkpoint and exploding. Before crashing, the Daily Mail reported that the pair had visited a casino resort for a few “minutes” prior, allegedly to change some money.
CNN reported that the driver was from a well-known family in Grand Isle, New York, and added that a medical issue may have led to the crash.
The FBI officially announced the conclusion of its investigation and declared that it found no explosive material and was unable to identify a “terrorism nexus” and the incident is being treated as a traffic accident.
The Niagara Gazette reported that the incident was attributed to a vehicle explosion outside the border inspection plaza on the American side. According to the report, the vehicle allegedly traveled in the wrong direction into the inspection booths, leading to the explosion.
