Two people were killed in a car explosion on a border bridge between America and Canada

Two people were killed on Wednesday in a car explosion on the Rainbow Bridge border bridge linking Canada to the United States, but the hypothesis of a bomb explosion as the cause of the explosion was ruled out.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation announced on the “X” platform that the explosion occurred near the famous Niagara Falls at a border crossing between the US state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario.

The Federal Police Office in Buffalo, New York, near Niagara Falls, sent investigators specialized in combating “terrorism.”

“This situation is very ambiguous, that’s all we can say at the moment,” the FBI field office in Buffalo said.

A source familiar with the preliminary investigations told Reuters – who requested that his name not be published – that a driver and a passenger were killed in the explosion, indicating that “terrorism” has not yet been ruled out because the circumstances of the accident have not yet been determined.

The source added, “Terrorism has not been ruled out because we really have no idea what happened.”

A witness told CBS that he saw a car “flying at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour (160 km)” with a possible impact from the explosion, noting that he later saw a “fireball” on the bridge.

Pictures of the border crossing showed rubble and a heavy police presence.

The American city of Niagara Falls said on its Facebook page that the Rainbow Bridge is closed “until further notice.”

New York State Governor Kathy Hackol announced on the X platform that the State Police is working with the FBI’s Counterterrorism Operations Task Force to “monitor all points of entry into New York.”

For his part, Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, hundreds of kilometers to the south, announced that security would be “strengthened” in the city, on the eve of the long Thanksgiving weekend.

The White House also announced that it informed US President Joe Biden of the explosion.

For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke before Parliament about a “very dangerous situation,” without clarifying whether the first clues indicated a “terrorist” act or just an accident.

“It is clear that it is a very dangerous situation near Niagara Falls. A car exploded at the Rainbow Bridge crossing,” Trudeau told the House of Commons, adding, “There are still many questions and we are trying to get answers as quickly as possible.”