A powerful explosion caused by what the authorities believe was a homemade bomb injured at least 29 people on a crowded sidewalk in the bustling Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on Saturday night.
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The blast came hours after a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, shortly before thousands of runners participated in a charity 5K race to benefit Marines and sailors.
De Blasio tried to calm any fears among nervous New Yorkers, saying preliminary information found “there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection” and the explosion wasn’t related to a pipe bomb explosion earlier Saturday in New Jersey that forced the cancellation of a charity run.
Although no worldwide group had claimed responsibility, New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo said detonating a bomb in New York City “is obviously an act of terrorism”.
On Sunday, Cuomo said the “bombs” in Chelsea “appear to be different” from those discovered earlier in the day in New Jersey, though the devices from both states were being shipped to the Federal Bureau of Investigation lab in Quantico for further assessment.
“Whatever the cause, New Yorkers will not be intimidated, they will not let anyone change who we are”, deBlasio said. He said all 29 people who were injured have been treated and released from a hospital.
Cuomo said there was “signifcant” damage to property around the blast site, and it was fortunate there weren’t more casualties.
Cuomo, speaking near the scene of the Saturday night blast, told reporters a second device found blocks away from the first explosion appeared “similar in design” to the first, though investigators are still testing its remnants after it was removed by a bomb squad robot and blown up at a police facility in the Bronx. A USA official familiar with information circulating inside the government said the motive remained unknown and insufficient evidence had been gathered to link the two NY bombs. But a bomb exploding in NY is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not linked to global terrorism – in other words we find no ISIS connection, etc. “We do have video, and we see the explosion”, O’Neill said. “We know it was a very serious incident”, he said.
Police officers, firefighters and other first responders had rushed to the scene of the blast, which closed a major roadway and forced people out of nearby buildings.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said the Chelsea explosion was not in a dumpster but next to one in the street.
No-one was hurt in New Jersey, and the authorities do not believe there is a link with the NY explosion.
(AP Photo/Nico Maounis). A police officer escorts an injured man away from the scene of a possible explosion on West 23rd Street in NY.
Soleil Filomena, 64, was leaving a convenience store at Seventh Avenue and 23rd Street when she heard the explosion. “It shows me it’s a deliberate act and indicates an act of terrorism”, he said.
“It tells me that it was a rather large explosive device that someone built and someone detonated and caused the injury of dozens of people”.
“I think it’s premature to call it terrorism until we know – unless you want to define terrorism as any violent act in an urban area – but given that there’s no proof of motivation, you wouldn’t be able to bring a terrorism case, so to speak, today”, she said.
Cuomo spoke Sunday morning near the site of the Saturday night blast on West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood. I saw pieces of metal – not large, but not small either.
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Federal investigators in Quantico, Virginia, will examine evidence from the explosions in NY and New Jersey. The explosion was captured on video, he said.
