Like in an action movie: cameras filmed the last seconds before the explosion at Niagara Falls

A car was shown online before the explosion at Niagara Falls / Collage 24 Channel

On Wednesday, November 22, a terrible incident occurred on the Rainbow Bridge connecting Canada and the United States near Niagara Falls. At first there was a version that it was a terrorist attack, but it is still being checked.

According to available information, the driver and passenger of the car died as a result of the incident. A US Customs and Border Protection officer was wounded.

Terrorist attack not ruled out

Journalists refer to a source who wished to remain anonymous. He noted that investigators have ruled out a bomb as the cause of the explosion. At the same time, the possibility of terrorism cannot be ruled out, as the circumstances of the incident remain unclear.

This cannot be ruled out because we really have no idea what happened,” the source said.

Meanwhile, US Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer of New York said that according to the FBI briefing he received: “Initial reports indicate that two people were killed in the car, but nothing is known at this time about their identities or motives.”

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, noted that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force had been mobilized to investigate the incident.

Preliminary information from Customs and Border Protection indicates that the incident was caused by the driver's negligence. His actions resulted in an accident and fire. Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters reporters. At the same time, officials from the service do not exclude the possibility that this could have been a deliberate attack. However, preliminary evidence does not confirm this.

Crashed into a curb and went airborne

Note that the incident occurred at a time of heightened attention to security issues around the world due to the conflict in the Middle East and at the peak of tourist travel to the United States on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thus, Buffalo International Airport was closed to all international flights departing and arriving after the incident. This was reported by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center noted it assessed and treated one patient with non-life-threatening injuries . The patient has already been discharged.

The Niagara Gazette, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the car flew into the bridge area. It broke through the fence separating the entry and exit lanes and also headed toward the inspection lanes, where it exploded.

Meanwhile, CNN, citing an unnamed source and posting video from the scene, noted that the vehicle was approaching from the American side of the border. It accelerated, hit the curb and went airborne before catching fire and exploding.

The last seconds before the car explosion were caught on camera: watch the video

Mike Gunter was an eyewitness to the incident. He told WGRZ-TV from Buffalo that he and his wife were walking near the bridge when a car from the US side crashed into the barrier at the crossing at high speed. After that, it flew into the air and exploded.

It was traveling at more than 100 miles (160 kilometers – Channel 24) per hour, said Gunter, who drove from Kitchener, Ont., adding that the car fishtailed out of control before crashing.

He added that “there was a fireball 9 or 12 meters high.” And that he had never seen anything like this in his life.

The FBI is investigating the explosion.

It is known that the explosion is already being investigated by agents from the local FBI office in Buffalo, New York. This was stated in a statement from the department on the social network X.

“The FBI is coordinating the investigation with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners. Because the situation is so fluid, that's all we can say at this time,” the FBI said in a statement.

The New York State Police is actively working with the FBI's Joint Counterterrorism Task Force to monitor all ports of entry into New York City.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a post on Network X that Canadian law enforcement agencies were also “actively involved in assessing the situation.”