{"id":249434,"date":"2016-09-18T14:27:29","date_gmt":"2016-09-18T14:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=249434"},"modified":"2016-09-18T14:27:29","modified_gmt":"2016-09-18T14:27:29","slug":"intentional-blast-injures-29-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/09\/intentional-blast-injures-29-in-nyc\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Intentional’ blast injures 29 in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"
At least 29 people have been injured in an explosion in a crowded district of New York City.<\/p>\n
The cause of the blast late on Saturday in Chelsea remains unclear. Mayor Bill de Blasio described it as “intentional” but said that there were no known links to terror.<\/p>\n
The force of the blast blew out windows and could be heard several blocks away.<\/p>\n
Another device, reportedly a pressure cooker rigged with wires, was later found in the same district.<\/p>\n
New York’s fire department said that of those injured, 24 were taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
One received a puncture wound described as serious, while the rest suffered scrapes and bruises.<\/p>\n
The explosion occurred around 21:00 (01:00 GMT on Sunday), outside a residence for blind people on West 23rd St.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said people ran in all directions following the “incredibly loud” blast.<\/p>\n
Some reports said the blast went off in a black metal construction toolbox, others that it was in a rubbish bin. Several blocks were shut by police but by 07:00 only 23rd St was closed, the New York Times reported.<\/p>\n
A police official told the Times: “We don’t understand the target or the significance of it. It’s by a pile of dumpsters on a random sidewalk.”<\/p>\n
Mr de Blasio said: “The initial indication is this was an intentional act.”<\/p>\n
But he added: “We also want to be upfront saying that there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident.”<\/p>\n
The second device has been described as a pressure cooker attached to wiring and a mobile phone – and this mode of attack was last seen in the US during the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013.<\/p>\n
A pressure cooker device also featured in a failed jihadist plot to attack New York’s Times Square in 2010. Extreme right-wing cells have also made them and the instructions are freely passed around on the internet.<\/p>\n
The US has a dedicated laboratory where forensic scientists analyse the remains of every significant explosive device the security services recover.<\/p>\n
Tiny fragments of a detonated device can be enough to pinpoint how it was made – and potentially who made it. Two years ago the US 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.<\/p>\n
Law enforcement officials said the device found at the second Chelsea location had been removed safely.<\/p>\n