Migrants sent back to Canada trying to cross ‘dangerous’ railway bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo
Published April 28, 2023 at 1:06 pm
The U.S. Customs and Border Protections agency said that three Mexican migrants were sent back to Canada after they tried crossing in the United States on the “treacherous” International Railway Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo.
The agency calls the bridge one of the “treacherous and dangerous pathways used to illegally enter” the country. Should a train come onto the bridge while people are on it, they would have little choice but to dive into the Niagara River.
It says the three migrant men were arrested after border agents patrolling the Niagara River noticed what it called “suspicious activity” on the International Railroad Bridge on Wednesday night (April 26).
The agency says it has arrested 24 “non-citizens” in the last 60 days trying to cross in the Buffalo area.
The bridge, which had its one-time pedestrian walkway removed in 1900, has seen an increase in traffic since the Canadian Pacific Railway abandoned its route via Niagara Falls, Ontario and re-routed across this Fort Erie bridge in late 2001.
Fifteen trains per day is now typical and trains are often seen at or near a stop on the bridge undergoing various security checks to cross the international border. The bridge no longer carries passenger trains and caters to freight trains only.
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While there are no available figures on how many deaths have been seen on the bridge, the most famous incident involves 1903 baseball superstar “Big” Ed Delahanty, 35, who died trying to cross the bridge. He had been kicked off a passenger train for being too drunk and abusive to passengers, threatening some with a razor after “five whiskies”.
The bridge’s busiest day ever was July 10, 1916, when 264 trains crossed.
~ With files from CP
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