The shutdown of the Canadian-United States border crossings in Western New York has led to a noticeable increase in traffic on local streets downtown, with many of the vehicles driven by confused motorists who were trying to figure out how to get over the border on the eve of one of the busiest travel holidays in America.
“I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but this must have been something serious for them to be alarmed like this,” said Greg Coulson, a retired firefighter from the Kingston, Ont., area.
Coulson said he and his wife were staying at Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino on the American side of the Falls when they heard all the police sirens and witnessed the commotion near the Rainbow Bridge.
Coulson said he was planning to head over the bridge on Wednesday to attend a birthday party with family members in Hamilton.
“Our concern now is how do we get back over the border because we’ve got family to see,” he said.
Authorities confirmed for the Niagara Gazette on Wednesday afternoon that a car went through a fence that separates the toll lanes from the inspection area on the American side of the Rainbow Bridge. They also confirmed that the vehicle exploded, killing two people inside. An inspections agent working on the American side of the toll booth was injured, according to the police.
The incident happened just after 11 a.m., causing a steady stream of traffic to build up on Third Street and other streets near the bridge downtown. Several motorists were unaware of the details of the closure and expressed concern about how or when they would be able to travel across the border again.
Alex Murray and several members of the Niagara University hockey team were planning to head over to Canada from the American side to grab some lunch right before the incident happened.
Murray and his teammates had to make other plans after police shut down the Rainbow Bridge.
“We saw a bunch of cop cars come flying,” he said.
“Hopefully, everyone is OK,” he added. “It’s a terrible thing.”