Bungled attack sparks panic
UNITED STATES: An attacker with a pipe bomb strapped to his body set off an explosion at one of New York’s busiest commuter hubs yesterday, leaving five people injured in an Islamic Stateinspired attack.
Akayed Ullah, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi national who is thought to have lived in the US since 2011, triggered a stampede during the morning rush hour as his homemade bomb detonated in a busy underpass.
He was pictured moments after the apparent attempted suicide attack, crumpled in a heap with severe burns and lacerations to his torso. He was later taken to hospital under arrest.
CCTV footage showed the bomber walking down a tunnel armed with a 13cm metal pipe bomb and battery pack strapped to his body before a flash of smoke fills the walkway.
The bomb, described by authorities as a low-tech device, exploded inside the passageway to the subway at an underpass to the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square, the busiest bus station in the US.
‘‘There was a stampede up the stairs to get out,’’ said Diego Fernandez, a commuter at Port Authority. ‘‘Everybody was scared and running and shouting.’’
Alicja Wlodkowski, a Pennsylvania resident in New York for the day, was sitting in a restaurant in the bus terminal building. ‘‘Suddenly, I saw a group of people, like six people, running,’’ she said. ‘‘A woman fell. No-one even went to stop and help her because the panic was so scary.’’
Sources said Ullah first arrived in the US from Bangladesh on an F-4 visa, available to those with family in the country, around seven years ago.
US President Donald Trump did not comment on the attack, although his press secretary said it ‘‘underscores the need’’ for the president’s immigration reforms. Bangladesh is not one of the countries covered in Trump’s travel ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries.
With Ullah striking at rush hour two weeks before Christmas, it seemed that commuters’ and shoppers’ worst fears had been confirmed. But as reports revealed that the device had prematurely exploded in the bomber’s jacket, it was clear that a far greater tragedy had been narrowly avoided.
The city’s response was typically pragmatic. ‘‘Let’s go back to work,’’ Andrew Cuomo, the city’s governor, told New Yorkers. ‘‘We’re not going to allow them to disrupt us.
‘‘When you hear about a bomb in the subway station, which is in many ways one of our worst nightmares, the reality turns out better than the initial expectation and fear,’’ Cuomo added.
Just hours later, the Port Authority station had reopened and New Yorkers were going about their daily routines.
The only serious injuries were to the attacker himself but four other people, including a police officer, suffered minor wounds.
Ullah, who was photographed lying face down, with tattered clothes and burns on his exposed torso, was said to be cooperating with police while being treated at New York’s Bellevue Hospital.
Officials said Ullah was inspired by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but learned how to make the bomb online and did not have any direct contact with the group.
‘‘We have no evidence ... that there were any secondary devices or it was part of a larger plan,’’ Cuomo said.
Last night police were searching an address linked to Ullah in the Flatbush neighbourhood. He is thought to have made the bomb in the home he shared with his father, mother and brother in the residential area of Brooklyn, which has a large Bangladeshi community.
CNN reported that Ullah told investigators he was motivated by recent Israeli actions in Gaza. Over the weekend, Israeli authorities said they had destroyed a tunnel between Gaza and Israel, in a blow to Palestinian militant group Hamas.
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio said the incident was ‘‘an attempted terrorist attack’’.
‘‘As New Yorkers, our lives revolve around the subways. When we hear of an attack in the subways, it is incredibly unsettling,’’ he said.
Last night cities across the US were increasing security around major transportation hubs.