Car Explosion Closes All Niagara-Area US/CAN Border Crossings Thanksgiving Eve

[thenetwork]

NY vehicle explosion reported at Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls, 1 injured

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ny-vehicle-explosion-reported-rainbow-bridge-niagara-falls-injured

[NWI_Irish96]

Watching this on CNN right now.

Seems like a weird spot for a terrorist attack but also seems very unlikely to be accidental either so we'll wait for more details.

[ZLoth]

NY vehicle explosion reported at Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls, 1 injured

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ny-vehicle-explosion-reported-rainbow-bridge-niagara-falls-injured

Fudge. This will definitely put a crimp on some weekend plans for folks in that area. No doubt the closure will be for multiple hours.

[zzcarp]

Some videos here from Twitter: https://x.com/rawsalerts/status/1727393535681335569?s=20

[webny99]

NY vehicle explosion reported at Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls, 1 injured

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ny-vehicle-explosion-reported-rainbow-bridge-niagara-falls-injured

Fudge. This will definitely put a crimp on some weekend plans for folks in that area. No doubt the closure will be for multiple hours.

On one of the busiest travel days of the year, no less. And don't think that because it's not a holiday in Canada, that there won't be a lot of cross-border travel. It's still a major cross-border travel day with US residents visiting family in Canada, and vice versa.

All four Niagara crossings are now closed, so anyone wanting to get across this afternoon will have to cross at the Thousand Islands, Detroit, or Port Huron depending on origin/destination.

[Rothman]

Just go around the lake.

[elsmere241]

In the US, it is the busiest travel day by car.  I'm sure in that part of Canada, at least, that spills over.

Reports at this point seem to be mixed, but apparently the car accelerated, hit a curb and jumped in the air before it exploded.  Both occupants are dead.

[webny99]

Just go around the lake.

Easy to say, but it's an 8 hour trek around Lake Ontario or nearly 10 hours around Lake Erie.

[Brandon]

At this point, it looks like a reckless driver heading toward Canada.  Apparently, the vehicle was going very fast and hit something on the US side, heading west, caught on fire, then had an explosion.  Could be gasoline in the tank from the description of the vehicle (a witness said a Chrysler 300).

Found a photo of the vehicle.  Looks like a Tesla Model S or 3.

https://twitter.com/AngryCops/status/1727435284902756811

[formulanone]

This might be understatement of the year, but that car was going ridiculously fast.

(a witness said a Chrysler 300).

Found a photo of the vehicle.  Looks like a Tesla Model S or 3.

It really does look more like a Chrysler 300 (or equivalent).

[Max Rockatansky]

It is a Bentley.

[Henry]

Nope, that's a Cadillac!

[webny99]

Lewiston and Peace Bridge crossings have reopened. I foresee Rainbow being closed considerably longer depending on the extent of damage. It'll be an inconvenience for travelers visiting the Falls, but the other crossings can handle things adequately outside of peak summer travel. It should be manageable even if the closure persists through the weekend, just plan for a bit of extra delay, especially tonight/tomorrow AM and Sunday.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Turned out it was just a couple idiots on their way to a KISS concert they were unaware was cancelled due to Paul Stanley having the flu.

Tragic and unnecessary.

[Brandon]

It is a Bentley.

Saw the later reports, and it's a Bentley.  Now I'm curious as to how the hell it got airborne like that.  Apparently the couple was going to the KISS concert, found out it was cancelled, and went to a casino in New York instead.  At that point, one must wonder if alcohol was involved.

[Max Rockatansky]

It is a Bentley.

Saw the later reports, and it's a Bentley.  Now I'm curious as to how the hell it got airborne like that.  Apparently the couple was going to the KISS concert, found out it was cancelled, and went to a casino in New York instead.  At that point, one must wonder if alcohol was involved.

Simple, hit the curb going really fucking fast:

https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1727458608739242374

(FYI: You need to strip the URL after the '?' for our tweet parser to work for it. -rmf67)

[tmoore952]

It is a Bentley.

Saw the later reports, and it's a Bentley.  Now I'm curious as to how the hell it got airborne like that.  Apparently the couple was going to the KISS concert, found out it was cancelled, and went to a casino in New York instead.  At that point, one must wonder if alcohol was involved.

I don't know where the involved locations are relative to the bridge. Where the concert would have been, where the casino is. But going to a KISS concert in the early afternoon? Was it really then or were they way early (maybe tailgating)?

[bing101]

https://apnews.com/article/niagara-falls-bridge-explosion-4e8f9bfeabd94a0d8aa4d96eccd179b9
Update its been changed to two deaths reported at the US-Canadian border.

[KCRoadFan]

It is a Bentley.

Saw the later reports, and it's a Bentley.  Now I'm curious as to how the hell it got airborne like that.  Apparently the couple was going to the KISS concert, found out it was cancelled, and went to a casino in New York instead.  At that point, one must wonder if alcohol was involved.

I don't know where the involved locations are relative to the bridge. Where the concert would have been, where the casino is. But going to a KISS concert in the early afternoon? Was it really then or were they way early (maybe tailgating)?

From what I've read, the concert was scheduled to take place in Toronto, which is about an hour-and-a-half drive from Niagara Falls on the QEW. Presumably, they left early enough to grab supper before the concert, as well as perhaps do some other stuff in Toronto earlier that afternoon, given sufficient time. I know that I would have left early myself, given that I love to do that whenever I go to another city for a concert, game, or some other sort of event.

[tmoore952]

It is a Bentley.

Saw the later reports, and it's a Bentley.  Now I'm curious as to how the hell it got airborne like that.  Apparently the couple was going to the KISS concert, found out it was cancelled, and went to a casino in New York instead.  At that point, one must wonder if alcohol was involved.

I don't know where the involved locations are relative to the bridge. Where the concert would have been, where the casino is. But going to a KISS concert in the early afternoon? Was it really then or were they way early (maybe tailgating)?

From what I've read, the concert was scheduled to take place in Toronto, which is about an hour-and-a-half drive from Niagara Falls on the QEW. Presumably, they left early enough to grab supper before the concert, as well as perhaps do some other stuff in Toronto earlier that afternoon, given sufficient time. I know that I would have left early myself, given that I love to do that whenever I go to another city for a concert, game, or some other sort of event.

I've driven that exact route myself to Toronto and it makes sense. I appreciate details like that -- which often seem to be missing.

I know there is a casino on the Ontario side (of Niagara Falls). I went there, but it was 20+ years ago. Is there a casino on the NY side now? An earlier post (which is in my quoted section above here) implied that. It would seem that if they were approaching the Rainbow bridge from the NY side that they were intending to go to Ontario.

[AsphaltPlanet]

They built a casino on the US side maybe a decade or so ago.  Something like that (I lose track of time, so I'm not sure).  I think the City of Niagara Falls saw the success of the one in Ontario and wanted in on the action themselves.

The security video that Customs released was crazy.  That driver was flying.  Literally and figuratively.

[KCRoadFan]

Is there a casino on the NY side now?

It looks like there is: https://senecacasinos.com/our-properties/seneca-niagara-resort-casino/

[SectorZ]

I believe in no conspiracy here, but I can't tell you all how freakin' unusual it is for a car to explode on impact like that in a car crash, even at the ludicrous speed it was traveling.

Curious about the physics involved here that yielded this result. I never saw anything like this in years of adjusting auto claims, and I saw impacts that were even more high-speed than this one.

[gonealookin]

Sounds a bit like a murder/suicide, with an attempt to make it spectacular.  /uninformed speculation

[roadman65]

Sounds a bit like a murder/suicide, with an attempt to make it spectacular.  /uninformed speculation

Could have been. Someone was high tech like Barney Collier on Mission Impossible and built a bomb in his car to explode to make sure they die as a standard collision might not due the trick.   😂🤣