Rainbow Bridge US-Canada border blast not terror-related

On the eve of Thanksgiving, a speeding car exploded into a deadly fireball on a US-Canada border bridge.

Despite the deaths of two people in the vehicle and the injury of a US border agent, New York’s governor ruled out terrorism.

It was being driven from the New York side of the border to Rainbow Bridge when it crashed at a checkpoint.

As a result of the incident near Niagara Falls, four bridges on the longest international border in the world were closed.

An explosion occurred at around 11:30 local time (16:30 GMT) on Wednesday, disrupting travel on the eve of Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel days of the year.

There was a temporary suspension of train service between New York and Canada, and officers screened cars for explosives at Buffalo and Niagara Falls airports.

New York City’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was reportedly threatened following the incident, sparking fears of a possible terrorist attack.

The incident was quickly briefed to US President Joe Biden and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who are in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.

Prime Minister Trudeau excused himself from Question Period in the House of Commons, saying his government was taking the incident “extraordinarily seriously”.

As a precaution, officials used trucks to block the Canadian entrance to Rainbow Bridge, which links Ontario with New York and the US city of Niagara Falls with Niagara Falls, Canada.

As of now, there is no sign of terrorist activity associated with this crash, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, several hours after the blast.

In addition, she informed me that one of the people who died was a “local” from the western region of the state of New York.