A Brief One from Doug Draper at Niagara At Large
Posted November 22nd, 2023
(UPDATE – As of 5:15 p.m. after the following news commentary was posted this November 22nd afternoon, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul reported that every bridge but the Rainbow Bridge crossing the Niagara River has been re-opened.)
A file photo of the Peace Bridge crossing, posted here, between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. The Rainbow Bridge, where the explosion occurred crosses between Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York, just downstream from the American and Horseshoe Falls
If you are getting ready to cross – either way the Canada/U.S. bridges along the Niagara River, you might want to reconsider
Due to an explosion involving a car crashing into a customs building on the American side of the Rainbow Bridge earlier this Wednesday, November 22nd afternoon, the Rainbow Bridge and Peace Bridge, and reportedly even the Queenston-Lewiston have been closed to all traffic while an investigation got underway.
Since the explosion shortly after noon hour, agents from the New York State Police and FBI, as well as investigators from the Ontario Provincial Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been working together to determine why a car from the U.S. side of the Rainbow Bridge accelerated to high rates of speed and exploded as it crashed into US. Border facilities.
Two people in the car died and as of the time this brief was posted, had not yet been identified. A U.S. customs official was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries
Questions this Novmeber 22nd afternoon were ranging from – ’was this a case of mechanical failure or the car’’s driver suddenly suffering a catastrophic medical incident, or was this some kind of terrorist attack targeting agents of the U.S. government at a high-profile bridge crossing.
As a fairly frequent cross-border traveller, I speculate that even if the bridges are re-opened later this Wednesday, November 22nd, border officers on both sides will be applying extra caution as they question the occupants of every car and truck that crosses.
That could mean exceptionally long waits at the border this Thursday, November 23rd on American Thanksgiving and on Black Friday.
I can visualize custom agents with dogs capble of sniffing out explosives walking between the line of cars while one waits to clear customs.
I certainly won’t be crossing any time soon.
Meanwhile, how very strange it was this November 22nd afternoon to go online and view the livecams for the usually very busy Peace Bridge, completely empty of traffic.
For more, click on the following link for a CBC story on this incident –https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/rainbow-bridge-explosion-niagara-1.7036398
A news clip from MSNBC. You can watch it by clicking on the screen below-
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