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Witnesses describe vehicle explosion at U.S.-Canada border: “I never saw anything like it”
Witnesses at a U.S.-Canada border crossing described the chaotic high-speed crash that led to a vehicle explosion at Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday.
The collision at Rainbow Bridge, a U.S.-Canada border crossing near Niagara Falls, in western New York, left two people inside the vehicle dead, multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to CBS News.
Mike Guenther, a Canadian visiting the United States, said he saw the vehicle speeding toward the crossing from the U.S. side of the border when it swerved to avoid another car, crashed into a fence and exploded.
“All of a sudden he went up in the air and then it was a ball of fire like 30 or 40 feet high,” he told NewsNation. “I never saw anything like it.”
“We heard a big bang … and I said, ‘there’s no way that guy’s gonna stop. There’s no way he can stop, he’s just going too fast,'” Guenther said.
Guenther said it took about 10 minutes for police other than the border police who were already at the bridge to arrive.
The Rainbow Bridge is a popular crossing for tourists, connecting Niagara Falls, New York, with Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
Ivan Vitalii, a Ukrainian visiting Niagara Falls, told The Niagara Gazette that he and a friend were near the bridge when they “heard something smash.”
“We saw fire and big, black smoke,” he told the newspaper.
Other witnesses said they could see smoke from inside Niagara Falls State Park.
Melissa Raffalow said she saw “a huge plume of black smoke” over the border crossing, roughly 50 yards away from the popular tourist destination.
“We didn’t hear the explosion because the falls were too loud,” Raffalow told The Associated Press.
Randie Wilson, a Niagara Falls tour guide, said he was heading to check in on a co-worker, and upon exiting his car he saw one of the vehicles flying about 30 feet from him.
“I first thought it was an airplane, looked like slow motion,” he told NewsNation. “And I said, ‘My God, it’s a car,’ And it’s a vehicle. And it’s flying through the air.”
He said one of the cars hit a concrete barrier before going airborne and crashing.
“Then all of a sudden I saw black smoke and then fire, there was no explosion, just the black smoke,” Wilson added. “And then, then there was so much smoke. It was unbelievable. After a while, probably took five minutes for law enforcement to get here.”
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A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.
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