'No evidence of terrorism,' Canada's public safety minister says day after Rainbow Bridge blast
CTV
Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed Thursday that there is 'no evidence of terrorism at this time,' in regards to the Rainbow Bridge vehicle explosion on Wednesday.
Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed Thursday that there is "no evidence of terrorism at this time," in regards to the Rainbow Bridge vehicle explosion on Wednesday.
"The Government of Canada and our law enforcement agencies will continue to work collaboratively with our American counterparts," LeBlanc said in a social media post.
His comments come after U.S. officials came out Wednesday night to say that after an initial investigation, there was no indication that the fiery vehicle crash was terror-related.
"FBI Buffalo has concluded our investigation at the scene of the Rainbow Bridge incident. A search of the scene revealed no explosive materials, and no terrorism nexus was identified. The matter has been turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation," FBI Buffalo said in a statement late Wednesday evening.
The Rainbow Bridge remained closed Thursday, with the Niagara Falls Police Department confirming that its crash-management unit was taking over the investigation, anticipating that "due to the complexity of the incident, the investigation will take some time to complete."
Two people were killed in the explosion on the U.S. side of the crossing linking Ontario and New York State. Shortly after 11:20 a.m. ET Wednesday, after travelling at a high speed leading up to a border checkpoint, the vehicle became airborne and crashed, before bursting into flames, according to officials.
As initial reports and footage from the scene emerged, national security sources told CTV News that while it had not been ruled out that the explosion was the result of other means, government officials were operating under the assumption that the vehicle explosion was terror-related.
