Locals Capture Footage of Explosion in NYC’s Chelsea Neighborhood That Injures 29

  1. Home
  2. World
By Emily Zanotti | 1:10 pm, September 18, 2016
Read More

UPDATE, 9/18: Law enforcement sources are now tellingly the New York Post that an unidentified male called 911 shortly after the first explosion and threatened that “there will be more.”

A portion of a note, partly written in Arabic, was also found attached to the second explosive device.

###

At least 29 people are injured after what New York City officials are calling an “intentional” explosion in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Authorities told media that the blast originated from a dumpster — at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue — that exploded and caught fire around 10:30 pm EST. Of the 29 injuries, only one is said to be serious – a puncture wound – while the others are mostly scrapes and bruises, according to the New York Fire Department. All victims have been released from the hospital.

A second device, also discovered in Chelsea, failed to explode. The New York Fire Department described the second device as a “pressure cooker” with cell phone wires and a timer attached in a plastic baggie – a device similar to those used in the Boston Marathon bombing.

City officials say a device was placed “in or near” the dumpster. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo insisted Sunday morning that authorities do not believe the explosion is the work of an international terrorist organization and that no organization has taken responsibility. ISIS, however, did celebrate the attack, and authorities do not seem to have ruled out the possibility of “homegrown” terrorism.

Cuomo also said that his office does not believe the Chelsea explosion is connected to an incident in New Jersey that occurred earlier in the day, where a pipe bomb, placed in a garbage can, exploded along an armed forces memorial race route. But New York state, New York City and the New York National Guard have deployed 1,000 additional officers to provide security throughout the city Sunday.

Social media users in Chelsea were quick to document the event, even before media or emergency response arrived.

https://twitter.com/raystrazdas/status/777309273835630593

One social media user even appeared to capture surveillance footage of the blast, though the video’s source remains unconfirmed.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio gave a press conference just before midnight Saturday, noting that a utilities explosion had been ruled out, and that the blast was “intentional” – though he said authorities, including the FBI, did not believe the incident was terrorism.

“This was an intentional act,” de Blasio told the news conference.  “New Yorkers will not be intimidated. We will not let anyone change who we are or how we go about our lives.”

New Yorkers across the city quickly took to social media to document authorities’ response to the Chelsea incident.

Both Presidential candidates also responded quickly to the news. Donald Trump gave a statement during a campaign stop in Colorado, calling the explosion “a bomb,” though authorities had not, at the time, used the term, but couched his analysis by acknowledging that there was a lack of information yet available.

“I must tell you that just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York. And nobody knows exactly what’s going on. But boy, we are living in a time — we better get very tough, folks. We better get very, very tough,” Trump told his supporters.

“It just happened,” he added. “So we’ll find out, but it’s a terrible thing going on in our world and in our country. And we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant. And we’re going to end it. We’re going to end it. We’ll see what it is. We’ll see what it is.”

Hillary Clinton also addressed media from aboard her campaign plane, criticizing Trump for calling the blast a “bomb,” but going on to refer to the explosion as a “bombing,” herself.

She added that she would withhold an official statement until authorities “had more facts.”

Advertisement

Related

UPDATE: Chelsea Suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami Has Been Apprehended

Vaper Horror: British Man Disfigured After E-Cig Explodes in His Face

Also ...