By Simon Webb and David Ingram
An explosion rocked the bustling Chelsea neighborhood
of Manhattan on Saturday night, injuring at least 29 people, and authorities
said they were investigating the blast as a criminal act not immediately linked
to any terror organization.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city
officials said investigators had ruled out a natural gas leak as the origin of
the blast, but they stopped short of calling it a bombing and declined to
specify precisely what they believed may have triggered the explosion.
Police said a sweep of
the neighborhood following the blast turned up a possible "secondary
device" a short distance away.
CNN, citing law
enforcement sources, reported that it appeared to be a pressure cooker with
wires attached to it and connected to what resembled a cell phone. A piece of
paper with writing on it was found nearby, according to CNN's account.
Remaining circumspect
about the exact nature of the actual explosion, De Blasio said early
indications were that it was "an intentional act." He added that the
site of the blast, outside on a major thoroughfare in the fashionable New York
City district, was being treated as a crime scene.
"There is no
evidence at this point of a terror connection," the mayor said at a news
conference about three hours after the blast. He added, "There is no
specific and credible threat against New York City at this point in time from
any terror organization."
The mayor also said investigators did not believe
there was any link to a pipe bomb that exploded earlier on Saturday in the New
Jersey beach town of Seaside Park. No injuries were reported in that blast, in
a plastic trash can along the route of a charity foot race. Authorities said
they believed it to be a deliberate act.
But a U.S. official said
that a Joint Terrorism Task Force, an interagency group of federal, state and
local officials, was called to investigate the Chelsea blast, suggesting
authorities have not ruled out the possibility of a terror connection.
A joint task force also
took the lead in investigating the New Jersey incident.
ONE PERSON
SERIOUSLY INJURED
A law enforcement source said an initial investigation
suggested the Chelsea explosion occurred in a dumpster but the cause was still
undetermined. CNN cited law enforcement sources as saying they believed an
improvised explosive device caused the blast.
President Barack Obama, who was attending a
congressional dinner in Washington, "has been apprised of the explosion in
New York City, the cause of which remains under investigation," a White
House official said. "The president will be updated as additional
information becomes available," the official added.
New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said 29
people were hurt in the blast, and 24 of them had been taken to area hospitals,
including one person he described as seriously injured. The rest suffered
various cuts, scrapes and other minor injuries from shattered glass and other
debris, Nigro said.
The explosion, described by one neighbor as
"deafening," happened outside the Associated Blind Housing facility
at 135 W. 23rd Street. The facility provides housing, training and other
services for the blind.
(Additional reporting by Frank McGurty and Angela Moon
in New York, Alex Dobuzinksis in Los Angeles, Tim Ahmann and Mark Hosenball in
Washington; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Mary Milliken)
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