Authorities said they believed it to be a deliberate act.
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NY has been rocked after an explosion injured up to 29 people in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.
In a statement, the foreign ministry said Malta’s Permanent Representation in NY had contacted the U.S. authorities, after which it was confirmed that none of those wounded in Saturday’s explosion were Maltese. Police say it was to be taken to the department firing range in the Bronx.
Police were telling residents on that street to stay away from windows until the scene was cleared. Officials said no evacuations were necessary. Most of the injuries were minor. “It’s something we will be investigating very carefully but there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection”.
Donald Trump moved ahead of New York City officials when he declared a “bomb went off” in the city before officials had released details.
Trump made the announcement minutes after stepping off his plane during a rally at an airport hangar in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Political reaction to the blast has been immediate, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump remarking: “It’s a awful thing what’s going on in our world, what’s going on in our country, but we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant and we are going to end it”. Meanwhile, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump might be in the spotlight, again, for saying that a “bomb went off in NY”.
There was an implied rebuke for Mr Trump pre-empting investigators in comments by Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
And so America waits, as experts search for a terrorist motive after two bombings in and near NY – and a third that failed to detonate.
According to Sputnik International, the blast is now under investigation and the authorities are also considering the possibility that construction explosives may have accidentally caused the incident.
A second device was found on West 27th street, wrapped in a plastic bag.
President Barack Obama “has been apprised of the explosion in New York City, the cause of which remains under investigation”, said a White House official, adding that the president will receive updates on the situation as they become available.
The blast came after a pipe bomb that was detonated in New Jersey on Saturday morning. No injuries were reported and a four-block area was evacuated for most of the day, authorities said.
The cause of the first blast, which one witness said was “like a volcano”, was believed to have been an explosive device placed in a trash can on 23rd street, a bustling area of the city a few blocks away rom the Empire State Building. The same law enforcement official also told Associated Press that the explosion appears to have come from a construction toolbox in front of a building. He added that the site of the blast, outside on a major thoroughfare in the fashionable lower West Side Manhattan neighborhood, was being treated as a crime scene.
The investigation into what caused the explosion, who is behind it and what damage it has caused is ongoing, NY officials say.
A law enforcement source said an initial investigation suggested the Chelsea explosion occurred in a dumpster but the cause was still undetermined. Several injured transported to area hospitals.
None of those 25 people has life-threatening injuries, according to a tweet from the New York Police Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau.
Chris Gonzalez, visiting from Dallas, was having dinner with friends at a restaurant in the area. The blast could be heard from…
Witnesses say Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security officials are also at the scene.
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There are reports of injuries but the extent is not known.
