Twenty-nine people were injured in the NY explosion, one of them critically, officials say. The driver had just picked up three passengers and was driving along 23rd Street when the explosion occurred, shattering the car’s windows and leaving gaping holes in the rear passenger-side door.
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Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI, William Sweeney told reporters on Sunday that an FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Taskforce, comprised of over 50 agencies, is analyzing evidence to see if all or any of the crime scenes are connected.
Authorities said the Manhattan blast didn’t appear to be connected to a pipe bomb explosion earlier Saturday in New Jersey that forced the cancellation of a charity run.
The White House said President Barack Obama has been apprised of the explosion in New York City and will be updated as additional information becomes available.
The US has a dedicated laboratory where forensic scientists analyse the remains of every significant explosive device the security services recover.
The second device did not detonate and was being analyzed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Twenty-nine people were injured in that blast.
Officials haven’t revealed any details about the makeup of the pressure-cooker device, except to say it had wires and a cellphone attached to it.
Authorities found another suspicious device late Sunday at a New Jersey train station located just outside NY. “We only know it was organized”.
Downtown LA is an especially busy place Sunday, with the Rams playing their first home football game in 22 years at the nearby Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Witnesses said the explosion at about 8:30 p.m. blew out the windows of businesses and scattered debris.
Meanwhile, Union County police say the FBI is investigating an incident that has halted NJ Transit trains between Elizabeth and the Newark airport in New Jersey.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the ongoing investigation.
“We find no ISIS connection”, Cuomo said at a press conference in downtown Manhattan.
The authenticity of the posting has not been confirmed by authorities.
One of the park’s maintenance men came in and said he got an alert on his phone that there was an explosion on 23rd and 6th.
“They’re saying it’s not linked to terrorism at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t”, Terrett said.
Police arrive on the scene of an explosion in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, in New York, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. Two years ago the USA scientists had a major victory when their painstaking work uncovered evidence that proved that a London taxi driver had made bombs in Iraq that killed a soldier.
The New York Daily News reported that weapons were found in the auto.
Trump, who called the explosion in NY a bombing more than 12 hours before officials or police did so in public, tweeted his “best wishes and condolences to all of the families and victims of the awful bombing”. New Jersey law enforcement would not say if a pipe bomb that exploded at a seaside community was terror-related.
Reacting to the explosion Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, said: “It’s a bad 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”.
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told VOA that officials assess security needs inside the United Nations complex on a daily basis.
Police and firefighters are at the scene of a possible explosion in New York City.
At least 29 people have been injured in the blast in the crowded district of Chelsea on Saturday night.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a second device discovered over the weekend in the city appeared to be “similar in design” to the exploded device. A robot removed the device safely.
The official added that the apparent low level of planning had some investigators concerned the blasts were just a test of New York’s security. The official says in the NY incident, the device that exploded had residue from an explosive called Tannerite.
In the video, the man leaves the duffel bag where police later found the unexploded pressure cooker.
Tannerite, which is often used in target practice to mark a shot with a cloud of smoke and small explosion, is legal to purchase and can be found in many sporting goods stores.
Caldwell reported from Washington.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking at the scene of the explosion Saturday night, said that there didn’t appear to be a connection between the two incidents.
Just seconds before, people can be seen walking along the street. “And that’s how we will prosecute it”, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
Authorities say there was no structural damage from the blast.
Early on Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said “there is no evidence of an worldwide terrorism connection with this incident”, noting that no global terrorist group has claimed responsibility.
He said the two devices in NY appeared similar in design, but different from the pipe bomb that detonated earlier on Saturday on the route of a charity race in New Jersey. All 29 victims were released from the hospital, officials said on Sunday. Most of the injuries were minor. One thousand extra state police officers and National Guard troops have been dispatched to patrol subways, bus terminals and airports.
De Blasio and city law enforcement leaders said more needs to be known about the motive behind the blast before calling it a terror attack.
Firefighters gather as heavily armed police block the area while they search for an explosive device on West 27th street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, New York on Saturday.
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“Almost anybody could have fabricated these bombs and used cellphones as timed detonators”, said another US official familiar with the inquiry.
