Terror back on streets of New York for first time since 9/11
Pressure cooker bomb injures 29 1,000 extra troops and police flood city And IS claims knife attack in Minnesota
A THOUSAND extra police and national Guard troops flooded new York last night after a homemade bomb injured 29 people.
the city was put on ‘full alert’ following the Manhattan blast, which used a device made from a pressure cooker, hidden in a bin.
A second, unexploded, pressure cooker attached to a mobile phone was found four streets away.
the remains of both devices – similar to those used by the Boston Marathon bombers in 2013 – are being examined by the FBI.
the blast followed an incident earlier in the day at seaside Park, new Jersey, where a pipe bomb in a bin exploded on the route of a Marine Corps charity run.
the bombings came on the day a man shouting ‘Allah’ stabbed nine shoppers at a mall in Minnesota. Is later claimed him as its ‘soldier’.
state governor Andrew Cuomo said saturday night’s incident in new York was a terrorist attack – the first major one in the city since 9/11 – but said there was no evidence of links to foreign groups.
the explosion left victims covered in blood and with metal embedded in their bodies. Among them were a pregnant woman and a boy of eight.
Yesterday, 1,000 state police and troops of the national Guard were drafted in to patrol streets and transport hubs.
there is expected to be a bigger than usual police presence as world leaders, including Prime Minister theresa May, arrive for this week’s united nations General Assembly.
As part of its investigations, the new York Police department said it was looking at possible links to the bombing in new Jersey.
Last night Fox news said it had been told by an unnamed law enforcement source that the devices used in the bombings had been made by the same person. ABC news reported that the possible link was a similar kind of mobile phone.
In the aftermath of the Manhat- tan explosion, new Yorkers said the chaos reminded them of the september 11 attacks, just days after the 15th anniversary.
the bomb exploded at 8.30pm outside a home for blind people on West 23rd street, which was packed with people visiting bars and restaurants. Witnesses said the blast was like a ‘wall of flames’ that it threw people into the air and lifted cars on to their sides.
Ben Brooks said: ‘I was sitting outside having dinner. It felt like a lightning bolt struck the building. It shook the ground. Everyone ran out of the restaurants into the street.’
david Martinez said: ‘I was driving my car and it tilted over and landed back down. I blacked out.’
the bomb appears to have been put in a tool box inside a construction site dumpster, which was blown apart sending debris flying 50ft.
A woman called helena, who was injured, said: ‘I realized there was blood streaming down my face, and I couldn’t see out of my eye.’ By yesterday lunchtime all of the injured had been released from hospital.
the second device was found in a plastic bag in a bin on West 27th st by two police officers.
the NYPD is combing through CCTV footage to try to identify suspects – though an official told Cnn there was no ‘good’ surveillance of the bomb location.
After the attack, there was a 911 call warning of further explosions, the new York Post reported.
the unidentified male caller said: ‘I’m looking at the explosion down the block. there will be more.’ It is not clear whether or not the call was a hoax.
the blast happened in Chelsea, a gay-friendly neighbourhood, suggesting it may have been a homophobic attack. however, the NYPD was last night ‘vetting’ a blog by a person claiming to be the ‘NY bomber’ in response to ‘oppression’ of the gay community.
the blog, which was quickly removed from social network tumblr, said: ‘I don’t know exactly how I feel about taking human lives … [but] if I don’t do what needs to be done nobody will pay attention.’
new York Mayor Bill de Blasio described the bombing as a ‘violent act, it was a criminal act…to understand any motivations, any political motivations, that’s what we don’t know.’ he also said there
‘It felt like a lightning bolt’
would be a ‘bigger than ever’ police presence for the UN General Assembly.
Police commissioner James O’Neill, who was in his first day in the job on Saturday, said no one had claimed responsibility and that investigators were ‘not discounting anything’. Governor Cuomo said it was ‘very lucky’ there were no fatalities.
He added: ‘A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism but it’s not linked to international terrorism … we’ve found no IS connection.’