Man arrested after pipe bomb explodes in New York rush hour

A crude pipe bomb strapped to a man inspired by the Islamic State group went off yesterday in a crowded subway corridor near Times Square, injuring the man, slightly wounding three other people and disrupting the rush-hour commute for hundreds of thousands of New York workers.

Surveillance cameras captured the man walking casually through the crowded passageway when the bomb suddenly went off at 7:20am amid a plume of white smoke. It cleared to show the man sprawled on the ground and commuters fleeing.

Investigators said it was not clear if the bomb was set off intentionally or went off prematurely.

“This was an attempted terrorist attack,” New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, said. “Thank God the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals.”

The suspect, who was arrested and later identified as Akayed Ullah, 27, was last night being treated in hospital for burns to his hands and abdomen.

Law enforcement officials said Mr Ullah was inspired by the Islamic State group, but had apparently not had any direct contact with the terrorist organisation.

Mr Ullah, who lives in Brooklyn, had come to the US from Bangladesh almost seven years ago.

The explosion, which happenedinasubwaypassageway 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 services 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.

New York state governor Andrew Cuomo said the suspect had gone online to learn how to make a bomb.

A photograph 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 photograph, shown on cable TV, showed the bearded suspect on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.

Elrana Peralta, a customer service worker at the Port Authority terminal complex, said: “All we could hear was the chaos. We could hear people yelling, ‘Get out! Get out! Get out!’”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that president Donald Trump had been briefed on the explosion.