Federal Bureau of Investigation agents are examining remnants of the bomb plus an unexploded device found four blocks away and another device that exploded in New Jersey on Saturday to see if they are connected.
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During a news conference Sunday afternoon, de Blasio said there was no “specific evidence at this point in time” connecting the bombings, but that authorities are still investigating the possibility.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the bombing an act of terrorism during Sunday press conference, but also said it doesn’t appear to be related to global terrorism, according to CNN.
“The evidence we’ve collected is being taken to our lab at Quantico for review, and we are following every available lead”, FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney Jr. said Sunday. “A bomb exploding in NY is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not linked to worldwide terrorism”, Cuomo said. “We will not allow these types of people and these types of threats to disrupt our life in NY”.
Police say 26 people have sustained minor injuries in the explosion on West 23rd Street.
The blast, which occurred on Saturday night in Manhattan injured 29 people who have all been released from hospital.
That device – described by a law enforcement official as a pressure cooker with wires and a cellphone attached to it – was removed early Sunday by a bomb squad robot and was being examined by forensic experts.
A bomb attack in New York City was a terrorist act, officials say, but no links have been found to global groups and the motivation remains unclear.
However, her Republican rival Donald Trump was more forthright, saying: ‘We better get very, very tough. The explosion on 23rd Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, caused “significant” damage, shattering glass and shrapnel across the street, but there is no structural damage to any buildings.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she was briefed about the explosion in Chelsea as well as the explosive device in New Jersey, but said she would have more to say on the NY incident until the more is known.
An explosion in the heart of New York’s Chelsea neighborhood sent dozens to the hospital Saturday night.
The investigation into the Manhattan explosion came as world leaders descend on the United Nations for a meeting Monday to address the refugee crisis and the Syrian conflict.
“We felt it. We heard it”, Gonzalez said.
People say we’re not fighting war here; but yet I’m scared to death for my little sister in NYC after a bombing in her city last night.
Surveillance footage of the explosion, including video from cameras at Orangetheory Fitness in Chelsea, captured bystanders running through the streets, ducking from debris as windows shattered all around.
Even before the explosion, NY was tightening security for the start of this week’s U.N. General Assembly session, which is expected to bring 135 world leaders and dozens of foreign government ministers to the city.
Alam said Sunday he hit the gas and tried to take his passengers to their destination in Queens, but pulled over along Madison Avenue and 39th Street.
No arrests have been made, but NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said “New York City residents can rest assured that we’ll get to the bottom of this”.
“At this time there is no evidence of an worldwide terrorism connection with this incident- but it is very, very early in the investigation”.
“Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in NY, and nobody knows exactly what’s going on”, Trump said a hours before NY officials spoke publicly about the blast.
Meanwhile, an explosion in a trash can near a Marine Corps charity race route in New Jersey earlier Saturday is also being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force there as possible terrorism. I saw pieces of metal – not large, but not small either. “A bomb going off is generically a terrorist activity”, Cuomo said.
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“I’m looking at the explosion down the block”. The video, which shows angles from inside and outside Orangetheory Fitness in Chelsea, shows a screen laying outside on the street after the explosion and what appears to be papers flying in the air.
