An investigation is underway after a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey, as a scheduled 5K race was set to begin Saturday morning.
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The device is being described as a “pipe bomb-style device” based on a preliminary investigation by officials from the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad, Della Fave said.
An explosion of a pressure cooker in New York City’s Chelsea section Saturday evening has heightened concerns all along the Jersey Shore, where events have been canceled in response to the bombings.
Ruedin said he soon saw smoke coming from the garbage can and saw other debris in the area, though he didn’t know if those items were parts of the can and/or trash that had been in the receptacle.
The third annual Marine Semper Fi 5k race to benefit the MARSOC Foundation was expected to start at about 9 a.m., but was delayed because of late sign-ins, authorities said.
Runner Adam Carswell of Toms River, New Jersey, told NBC 4 NY he saw the smoke rising from the garbage can after the explosion. Investigators are trying to determine a motive.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that investigators believe “that there was a common group behind the bombs”, based on the “certain commonalities among the bombs”, according to the AP.
The blast occurred at about 09:30 local time (13:30 GMT) on a boardwalk area, which authorities sealed off.
“All phones used as detonators were similar in design and officials say another similarity was the lack of know-how that went in to making the bombs.”
“If it was just a matter of minutes, in terms of difference, there would have been a good number of people running past that explosive device” because of its location along the race route, Della Fave said.
Authorities said that whoever made the bombs had limited experience, given that the devices in New Jersey and the one in NY failed to work as designed.
A statement issued by Ocean County Police, Fire and EMS said: “An explosive device discharged within a garbage pail at approximately 9:35 am”.
Even so, the explosion stirred dark memories of the bomb blasts at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013 that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.
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The race was canceled after the blast, according to a press release from the U.S. Office of the Attorney General this afternoon. None of the devices are very sophisticated, but they show enough know-how to be lethal, officials said.
