No-one was injured in the blast on Ocean Avenue in the town of Seaside Park, which happened shortly before 3,000 runners were due to take part in a charity race to benefit United States marines. At least 25 people are injured with minor injuries. “They are terrorism. Now, who is responsible is something else and what the motive was is something else that hopefully we are going to find out in the days ahead”.
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The start of the 5K was delayed, which the prosecutor’s office said was why a large number of runners weren’t in the area at the time of the explosion.
The FBI will study the bombs used in explosions in Seaside Park and Manhattan at its facilities in Quantico, Va., New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.
“We’re in the middle of a complex investigation to determine who did this and why they did this”, O’Neill said.
About 5,000 people were set to run the 5 km charity race in Seaside Park, a family-oriented resort known for its beachside boardwalk, a local NBC affiliate reported.
According to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, no injuries were sustained as a direct result of the blast though it was audible for some distance and caused a great deal of concern for human life.
Cohen said the agency was working to make sure there was “no stone left unturned” in the investigation. According to authorities, the device that exploded was one of three pipe-bomb-resembling devices tied together. He said the site of the explosion, outside on a major thoroughfare of a fashionable enclave in one of the most bustling areas of New York City, was being treated as a crime scene.
The bombs were hidden in a garbage can just past the half-mile mark of Saturday’s 5K race in Seaside Park, N.J., where more than 2,000 runners and spectators had gathered to raise money for wounded Marines.
Traffic across the Mathis Bridge was shut down around 12:30 p.m., but the bridge reopened about an hour later, although people are still restricted from the boardwalk area as state police decide how to handle the explosive devices in the trash can. Christie also said authorities have some “promising leads”.
The start of the race was delayed because of registration problems, which meant that nobody was near the trash can when the explosion happened. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it didn’t appear to be linked to global terrorism.
Anyone with information related to the explosion is being asked to call the New Jersey State Police Homeland Security Tipline at 1-866-4SAFENJ.
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“I thought it might have been an explosion of some sort or a sonic boom”, she said.
