Brandon Livesay
US reporter

When a car exploded after flying into a US customs and border structure on the eve of the major Thanksgiving holiday, tensions were high.

The FBI started an investigation and border routes between the US and Canada were blocked off.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has since told media that at this stage, it appears to have no relation to terrorism.

Two people died, but their identities have not yet been confirmed. What caused the high-speed crash and explosion to happen is still uncertain.

Most of the border crossings have since re-opened. But the investigation into what took place could take some time. Governor Hochul said barely anything was left from the car.

Our writers today have been Bernd Debusmann Jr, Holly Honderich and Chloe Kim. And Nadine Yousif was reporting from Niagara Falls.

You can read more about the Niagara incident at the Rainbow Bridge in this article.

Thanks for following along with our live updates.

Nadine Yousif
Reporting from Niagara Falls

I’ve just arrived to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. At Rainbow Bridge, police cars and dump trucks are blocking the entrance to anyone looking to enter.

One eyewitness named Dor Tamang has been sheltering at a Starbucks across the street for several hours, along with a few others. They were all forced to walk across Rainbow Bridge from the US side to the Canada side on foot and leave their cars behind when the explosion occurred.

Tamang, who lives in Toronto, tells me that he was in the US to process immigration documents. He was on the second floor of the US Border and Customs building when the blast occurred.

He says it was powerful enough that the ground felt like it was shaking. He then looked out the window and saw a billow of black smoke.

Another Canadian eyewitness, who declined to give his name, said the blast felt like a “mini earthquake”. “We all rushed to the window and we just see this car going up in flames,” he said.

He, too, is sheltering nearby, hoping to hear any word on when he can cross the border again and retrieve his car.

The bridge is only a short walk across the street from restaurants and tourist landmarks like the Hard Rock Cafe.

But aside from the glow of police car lights by the border crossing, it seems like it is mostly business as usual in Niagara Falls, with several people walking around the city.

Here's a recap of what we know about today's incident in Niagara, on the US-Canada border.

• Two people died after a car travelling at high speeds hit a barrier and launched at least 2.4m into the air and then hit a US Customs structure and exploded
• The FBI is investigating the crash at Rainbow Bridge on the US-Canada border, but New York Governor Kathy Hochul says there was no indication the explosion was related to terrorism
• A US Customs and Border Protection officer that was hospitalised after the incident only had minor injuries and has since been released
• Four major crossings between the US and Canada were shut down after the explosion, but three have since re-opened
• Witnesses described seeing a fireball and thought the car had been travelling at least 160km/h

The NY Governor has finished speaking now.

Before she wrapped up, Governor Hochul said the car had been travelling at a “very high high rate of speed”.

She said it crashed into a median and flew over a fence that was about 8-feet (2.4m) high.

The governor said it was surreal to see video of how high the vehicle flew into the air, and also said that same video would be released "very shortly".

In her remarks, Governor Hochul said that at least one of the people involved in the crash was "local" and from Western New York.

The car involved did not have a license plate, she added.

The governor says it was "an horrific explosion" and the investigation will "go on for a number of days".

She reiterates that "at this time, there is no indication" of "terrorist activity".

Hochul says they still do not know the intention of the driver, or if it was an accidental crash.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is now speaking with media and starts by saying "there is no indication of a terrorist attack".

She says the vehicle has been "incinerated" and nothing is left but the engine.

Stick with us, we will have more updates for you shortly.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is about to give an update on the situation in Niagara.

You can watch a live stream of the governor's statement by clicking the play button at the top of this page.

Mike Wendling
US reporter

An eyewitness to the explosion says he went to a window to start recording after he heard a loud boom.

“Everything was in flames,” said the witness, who goes by the name “Chorkor Millionaire” on social media. “Within seconds there was thick smoke everywhere.”

He posted a video of the aftermath on Facebook, external.

Chorkor lives in Canada and mostly makes videos about Canadian life and immigration, mostly for African audiences. He says he was giving a ride to a family who had some paperwork to file on the American side of the border.

The explosion happened while they were in a government office at the border. Chorkor says there was no warning, just the loud boom.

“I was really worried because the fire and smoke was near my van,” he says.

US officials inside the building then told people to move away from the windows and to a lower floor, and then eventually took people to the Canadian side of the border. When Chorkor spoke to the BBC hours after the explosion, he was still waiting to get his car back from the American side.

“There’s no word on when this is going to be over,” he says.

The car that exploded on the Rainbow Bridge was coming from the US and was still on American soil at the time of the incident, a senior law enforcement official has clarified.

Since the explosion took place, there has been confusion about which direction the vehicle was travelling.

Just moments ago, a senior law enforcement official told CBS - the BBC's US partner - that the vehicle hit the US customs station while traveling towards Canada.

It is unclear what nationality the two passengers - who are believed to be men - held.

More updates are expected from New York Governor Kathy Hochul shortly.

Buffalo Niagara International Airport remains open, the airport has said in a statement.

On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the airport said that "additional security measures are in place", including car checks and extra screenings.

"We advise travellers to give themselves time for these extra precautions in addition to holiday travel," the statement said.

The website of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) still lists the airport as closed to both outgoing and incoming flights.

Holly Honderich
US reporter

The first sign Heather Werksman saw that something was happening at the Rainbow Bridge crossing was three border police cars zooming by the Red Coach Restaurant, five minutes from the border on the US side.

"We were just kind of waiting and searching the news to try and figure it out," she tells the BBC.

Eventually, staff at the restaurant found a post on Facebook saying a car had crashed into a barrier at the border.

Authorities have blocked off much of the surrounding area, Werksman says, and many local businesses have shut down out of caution.

The streets now are quiet with only police vehicles on the road. "FBI officers are roaming around, investigating I assume," she tells me.

Werksman adds she is worried for those now trapped on the wrong side of the border ahead of Thanksgiving and won't be able to get home for the holiday.

There is "no known threat" of the Canadian side of the border with New York, the Niagara Regional Police Service had said in an update.

The update, posted on X, said that the force has "minimal involvement" in the response or investigation.

The Rainbow Bridge - which connects Niagara Falls, Ontario to its namesake in New York - remains closed.

"As a result of the closing of the Niagara border crossings, members of the public should expect road closures near the bridge and significant traffic congestion," the update added.

Image source, Getty Images

It's the day before Thanksgiving in the US, one of the busiest periods of travel as millions rush home for the break.

More than 49 million people will hit the roads around the holiday, according to projections from the American Automobile Association.

Though there are many road closures around Buffalo, New York, because of this incident, it seems that it has not impacted travel significantly - at least for now. Traffic remains moderate, according to online data and local stations.

There are four border crossings around Niagara Falls, connecting New York in the US to Ontario in Canada.

Rainbow Bridge, Lewiston, Whirlpool and Peace Bridge are all closed at this time.

The Office of the Prime Minister has said Canada is in contact with US officials on the evolving situation at the border.

Speaking in the Canadian parliament a little while ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said authorities are taking the situation "extraordinarily seriously"

You can watch his remarks to fellow Canadian MPs below:

Buffalo Niagara International airport has closed, according to an update from the US Federal Aviation Administration.

On a "National Airspace System Status" page on its website, the FAA said that the airport was closed to both departing and arriving aircraft as of 15:07 local times (1907 BST).

No further details were provided.

There is "no immediate timeline" to re-open the four bridges closed on the US-Canadian border near Buffalo, according to New York state officials.

In addition to the Rainbow Bridge where the incident took place, authorities have so far closed the Peace Bridge, Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and the Whirlpool Bridge.

All other crossings between New York and Canada remain open.

Airports and railways facilities in the area - which are managed by the the Niagara-Frontier Transit Authority - also remain open, albeit with additional security.

Similarly, Buffalo Airport has deployed additional explosive detective dogs, police patrols, and additional screening.

Holly Honderich
US reporter

Smoke is still in the air around the site of the incident, an employee of a nearby hotel on the US side tells the BBC.

The area was "pandemonium" when he drove by at about 14:00 local time, he said.

Now, law enforcement has swarmed the US side of the bridge. "Three blocks are flooded with police, they have dogs and everything," he said.

Today's incident was shocking, he said, and out of place in a typically quiet area. "Stuff like this doesn't happen in this town".

Mike Wendling
US reporter

A local hospital has confirmed that one man was treated for "non-life threatening injuries" after the explosion.

James Suitor, director of public safety and emergency management at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, told us that the patient was transported to the hospital at 11:30 local time.

The BBC understands that the man is a US Customs and Border Protection officer.

A senior administration official has told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that the explosion at the Rainbow Bridge was "more than a freak accident".

"But we don't yet have details," the official added.

Various US and Canadian officials have now cautioned that it is too early to determine what exactly happened and what caused the explosion at the bridge.

The investigation is ongoing.

Stay with us for more updates.