US closes border crossing with Canada after vehicle explosion

USA closed a border crossing with Canada after a vehicle explosion at a checkpoint on a bridge near Niagara Falls, authorities reported Wednesday.

The blast occurred on the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge, which links the two countries over the Niagara River. Three other bridges between western New York state and the Canadian province of Ontario were quickly closed as a precaution.

Photos and video taken by passersby and posted on social media show thick smoke, flames on the pavement and a security post charred by flames.

Videos showed the fire was in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection area, just east of the main vehicle inspection point.

Mike Guenther said the vehicle sped from the U.S. side, missed another vehicle, crashed into a fence and exploded. “Suddenly it jumped into the sky and it was a fireball about 30 or 40 feet high (between 9 and 12 meters)” Guenther to WGRZ-TV. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The governor of the state of New York, Kathy Hochul, said that she has been notified of the event that is “monitoring the situation closely.”

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, but New York Governor Kathy Hochul said state police and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force were monitoring all entry points into the state.

“I am traveling to Buffalo to meet with law enforcement and emergency teams, and will update New Yorkers when we have more information.”Hochul posted on social media.

The FBI office in Buffalo said in a statement that it was “investigating a vehicle explosion” on the bridge and added that the situation was “very fluid, that’s all we can say at the moment.”

For his part, the Minister of Public Service of Canada, Dominic Leblanc, told the press that the Canadian government is taking the situation “with extreme seriousness” and who are in contact with the US authorities.

With information from AP and AFP.