Surveillance cameras at a US-Canada border crossing captured the moment a speeding vehicle exploded at a checkpoint on Wednesday. The incident remains under investigation.
CCTV footage posted to social media shows an explosion immediately outside a customs booth, though the car itself does not appear in that clip. Other footage described by news outlets including ABC and Fox News reportedly shows the vehicle stopping at an initial security checkpoint on the US side of Rainbow Bridge, which spans the Niagara River gorge, where it was referred to another checkpoint for closer examination.
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The vehicle apparently sped up and crashed into the second checkpoint, where it exploded, according to another CCTV video.
🚨#BREAKING: New surveillance video shows the moment when the white vehicle went airborne and crashed at the Rainbow Bridge Crossing checkpoint before going up in flames near Niagara Falls pic.twitter.com/7I2JGM9aTw
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) November 22, 2023
Photos and video purporting to depict the aftermath of the explosion show thick smoke billowing from the checkpoint area and twisted pieces of the vehicle strewn around the booths.
The two people in the car are said to have died in the blast, while a border patrol agent was injured.
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Fox News, citing “high-level police sources,” originally described the explosion as an attempted terrorist attack, claiming the car was full of explosives and was targeting the Customs and Border Patrol building. However, that claim was later retracted.
The FBI has only confirmed that the explosion took place, explaining in a statement posted on social media that the situation is “fluid” and that it is working with local and state law enforcement.