The Rainbow Bridge, one of the four bridges that connects Canada with the United States (New York state), in the Niagara Falls region, was cut off this Thursday early afternoon due to the explosion of a vehicle in the border crossing. The two occupants died and a border official was injured. In a chained manner, the other three bridges between the two countries were closed, the train service was cut and special surveillance of the airports was established. Maximum alert.
The FBI was deployed to clarify what had happened and given indications that it could be an attempted attack. However, the governor of the state of New York, Kathy Hochul, ruled out hours later that it was a terrorist action, although the reason for what happened was unknown.
Except the Rainbow Bridge, due to the ongoing investigation, the other bridges were reopened. The Buffalo airport was operating normally, while the Amtrak company had already canceled its trains for this Wednesday and would not return to its normal operation until this Thursday.
“We know that this case has aroused great anxiety,” the governor acknowledged. “From what we know so far, and if nothing changes, there is no indication of terrorist activity,” Hochul stressed at a press conference, insisting that all police forces agreed on that consideration. They also did not find any trace of explosives in the vehicle.
But the governor did not want to go further regarding what motivated this case, nor the identity of the deceased nor the type of car. But she stressed that “it is still too early to call this incident an accident.”
Investigators believe, however, that the driver was a regular casino player and frequently crossed the border between the two countries. Apparently, he had no criminal record. Both dead were believed to be Americans.
“The car was going at an extraordinary speed,” Hochul explained. So much so that the governor described it as a “surreal flight” when she saw in a recording how the vehicle rose to altitude before hitting the guardhouse, catching fire and exploding.
Initially, the detonation took place when the vehicle was going from the US to Canada. Everything was precipitated, according to some witnesses, once a first checkpoint was passed and the driver was told to change lanes for a more detailed inspection.
As the governor said, the event caused a lot of concern. “We have been on maximum alert since last October 7,” stressed Hochul. Since the day Hamas launched the attack against Israel and the army of this country began its retaliation in Gaza, the networks have been filled with threats and promises from alleged extremist groups to commit attacks in the United States due to Washington’s support for the government of Benjamin Netayahu.
Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, stated this week that the US was on maximum terrorist alert at a time of high mobility due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Wray expressed fear that there could be individuals or organizations radicalized by what was happening in the Middle East.
At first, and given the measures adopted by the authorities, everything seemed to indicate that the hypothesis of an attack was the main one. Partly due to exaggerated or false information such as those spread by the Fox network, where there was talk of a car loaded with explosives and that another was being searched, always with the intention of describing a country in complete chaos. Then, seeing that there was another narrative, they forgot about the case.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explained in the House of Commons that “we take this situation very seriously”, a phrase that served to excuse his hasty departure from that institution. That was before Hochul appeared before the press and commented that he had been in contact with Canadian authorities.
Edward Caban, commissioner of the New York City Police (NYPD), also appeared at a press conference and assured that there was “no credible or specific threat” in the Big Apple. He made this statement ahead of the popular Thanksgiving parade that this Thursday will bring together hundreds of thousands of curious spectators.