Monday, 19 September 2016

New York explosion: 'Five detained' as police probe 'pressure cooker devices made with Christmas lights'


Motive "unknown" for bombing that rocked popular Chelsea district
29 people injured, but all now released from hospital
Area is home to one of New York's major gay communities
Incident comes hours after New Jersey pipe bomb blast
Everything we know so far about the New York explosion
Federal authorities have reportedly detained five people with possible links to the New York bombing as the US reeled from three attacks in 24 hours.



New York was on high alert after the explosion rocked the Chelsea district of Manhattan injuring 29 people, one seriously, on Saturday night.

US investigators on Sunday were studying possible links between the bombs in New York, including an unexploded device, and New Jersey over the weekend, although no evidence had yet emerged tying the devices to known extremist groups.

The country was shaken further by a stabbing attack at a Minnesota shopping mall that wounded nine and was claimed by Isil.

Thousands of people were milling around one of Manhattan’s most fashionable areas when the blast ripped through the area shortly after 8.30pm local time.

It is understood to have originated from a device placed in a pressure cooker outside the Associated Blind Housing facility at 135 West 23rd Street. A second device was found four blocks away on West 27th Street.

Both bombs in New York were filled with shrapnel and made with pressure cookers, flip phones, Christmas lights and explosive compound, The New York Times reported late Sunday, citing law enforcement officials.

Earlier in the day on Saturday there was an explosion at Seaside Park, New Jersey -  83 miles away - which was timed to disrupt a Marine Corps charity run.

An unnamed law enforcement official told Fox News on Sunday that the bombs in New Jersey and New York were "from the same person".  The devices in both explosions included mobile phones. The New Jersey device contained evidence of a black powder explosive, while a source told the Associated Press that the New York device had used Tannerite, an explosive which is often used in target shooting to mark a shot with a cloud of smoke and small explosion.

As reports emerged of the five detained in New York, the FBI's New York branch tweeted that no one had been charged.

"We did a traffic stop of a vehicle of interest in the investigation," the FBI tweet said. "No one has been charged with any crime. The investigation is continuing."


New York media said the vehicle's five passengers were in custody for questioning.  The vehicle was stopped around 9:30 pm heading east on the Belt Parkway from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects the New York city boroughs Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The New York Daily News reported that weapons were found in the car.

Bill de Blasio, New York’s mayor, said the blast in Chelsea was an “intentional act” but he insisted that there was no credible terrorist threat to the  city and said there was no link with the New Jersey explosion.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force has been called in to investigate the Chelsea blasts well as the New Jersey incident.

Reacting to the explosion Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, said: "It's a terrible 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

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