The blast happened in front of a residence for the blind, near a major thoroughfare with many restaurants and a Trader Joe’s supermarket.
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Tweets from the area describe “one loud long boom”.
“You could feel it in your body, it was very powerful'” said Claes.
Police Commissioner James “Jimmy” O’Neill, who began his post Friday, said no evidence indicates the explosion was caused by natural gas. The explosion was captured on video, he said. “A full investigation is under way”, he said.
However, a Joint Terrorism Task Force, made up of different law enforcement agencies, has been called in to investigate, indicating the authorities have not ruled out the possibility of a terror link.
Witnesses said Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security officials, along with the ATF arson and explosive task force, were also at the scene.
At least 24 of those injured in an explosion in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood have been hospitalized, the fire department says.
Right opposit to the UN Headquarters on Manhattan’s 1st Avenue, four police officers on duty told Xinhua that they have been in position since 4 p.m. Saturday. “All the pictures fell to the floor and then I heard people screaming”.
Jain said the explosion shattered the glass in her building’s lobby.
A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed the news on Twitter saying: “We are responding to a report of an explosion at 23rd St. and [6th] Avenue in Manhattan”.
There is a construction sites near the scene of the Chelsea explosion. Police searched cars and trash cans in the area.
“We believe it was intentional”, de Blasio said.
He also said that so far a connection has not been found between an bomb-explodes-near-seaside-park-boardwalk-1035/”>earlier incident in New Jersey when a pipe bomb exploded near a military race, and that it was too early to tell whether the explosion was linked to the United National General Assembly which opened Thursday. No one was hurt.
But CNN reported that law enforcement sources believe an improvised explosive device caused the blast.
The explosion in NY comes as foreign leaders, including many heads of state, are heading to Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly.
She says the nation needs to support its first responders and “pray for the victims”. “Also to pray for the victims”, she said.
Donald Trump moved ahead of New York City officials when he declared a “bomb went off” in the city before officials had released details.
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Sami Miller, 20, was on her way to meet up with friends for dinner when she texted a friend, “A bomb went off I’m gushing blood”. We’ll move quickly to correct the record and we’ll only point to the best information we have at the time.
