“There’s a massive emergency response taking place in downtown Manhattan”, Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey reported from NY.
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“I must tell you that just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in NY and nobody knows exactly what’s going on”, said Trump shortly after getting off of his plane.
He said authorities did not know of a connection between the NY explosion and the bomb that exploded without hurting anyone earlier Saturday in New Jersey.
A law enforcement source told CNN that the explosion occurred around 8:40 p.m. ET – about 30 minutes before Trump took the stage here – at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan. De Blasio said there was no reason to believe there was a connection between incidents.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo issued a statement Saturday night saying “full state resources have been made available” to the city, and White House officials said President Barack Obama had been “apprised of the explosion”.
There is no credible threat to the safety of New Yorkers, the officials added.
At an 11PM press conference, Mayor de Blasio described the Chelsea explosion as an “intentional act”.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation, says the device was found inside a plastic bag on West 27th Street.
Shortly after the explosion, the MTA announced that they had suspended subway service for the 1 and 2 trains between downtown Manhattan and 34th street due to the incident.
Police are telling people to avoid the Chelsea area near the 13th precint after a secondary device was found four blocks away from 23rd street. Of the 29 injuries, only one is reported to be serious. “My 10-year-old boy was sat in the back seat of the vehicle, and the explosion blew the back window out”, said Tsi Tsi Mallett, who was in a auto driving along 23rd Street when the explosion took place.
The street is not normally the site of heavy foot traffic, he says.
Amateur video captures the immediate aftermath following a loud explosion that shook the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea.
WATCH: Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump react to an explosion that injured 29 people in New York City on Saturday night. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, the New York City Fire Department said.
The blast happened in front of a residence for the blind.
The injured were shifted to area hospitals.
Chris Gonzalez of Dallas was with friends at a nearby restaurant. The 26-year-old says she heard and felt a blast.
On Saturday morning, a pipe bomb exploded in a trash can in Seaside, NJ, along the route of a 5K charity run for the Marine Corps.
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“Obviously we need to do everything we can to support our first responders and pray for the victims”, she said.
