Man who set off rush hour bomb on New York subway ‘inspired by IS’
A 27-YEAR-old man who set off a pipe bomb in a New York City subway came to the US from Bangladesh seven years ago, law enforcement officials have said.
Akayed Ullah had a type of preferential visa for people with relatives who are US citizens or permanent residents, and was living in Brooklyn.
He was arrested after a crude pipe bomb strapped to his body went off yesterday in a crowded subway corridor near Times Square in Manhattan.
Ullah was injured and three others were wounded.
Surveillance cameras captured him walking casually through the crowded passageway when the bomb suddenly went off at 7.20am amid a plume of white smoke, which cleared to show the attacker sprawled on the ground and morning commuters fleeing in terror.
Investigators said it was not clear if the bomb was set off in- tentionally or went off prematurely.
“This was an attempted terrorist attack,” New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters.
“Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals.”
The suspect was treated at a hospital for burns to his hands and abdomen.
The others who were injured suffered ringing in the ears and headaches.
Officials said Ullah was inspired by Islamic State but had apparently not had any direct contact with the group.
The explosion, which happened in an underground passageway under 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues, triggered a massive emergency response by police and firefighters both above and below ground, affecting subway and bus service at the nearby Port Authority bus terminal.
Everything around Times Square was shut down, halting what would ordinarily be a bustling rush hour.
Authorities said the bomb was a low-tech explosive device attached to the man with Velcro and cable ties.
A photo published by the New York Post showed a bearded man crumpled on the ground with his shirt apparently blown off and black soot covering his bare midriff.
A police officer was holding the man’s hands behind his back.
Another photo shown on cable channel NY1 showed the bearded suspect, wide-eyed, on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.
Elrana Peralta, a customer service worker for Greyhound, said she works in the Port Authority terminal complex near where the blast happened but did not hear the explosion.
“All we could hear was the chaos,” she said.
“We could hear people yelling, ‘Get out! Get out!’”
White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the explosion.
Instead of commenting on the suspected terror attack, Mr Trump later sent a tweet at 9.17am criticising a Sunday story in The New York Times that said he watched cable news television for at least four hours a day.
The blast came just weeks after eight people died in New York when another man, also said to be inspired by Islamic State, drove a rented vehicle onto a bike path near the World Trade Centre.