New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has labelled the explosion that hit Manhattan’s Chelsea district an “intentional act”, but stopped short of identifying a specific motive behind the blast.
“Tonight, New York City experienced a very bad incident,” de Blasio told the media, referring to the 29 people injured by the explosion. One passer-by is believed to have suffered serious but non-lifethreatening injuries.
“We are not going to let anyone change who we are or how we go about our lives.”
UPDATE: Picture reportedly shows pressure cooker device that police located near the New York explosion site. #9News pic.twitter.com/bh964zjlGC
— Nine News LA (@9NewsLA) September 18, 2016
It was safely removed from the scene by a police robot, and was taken to a police firing range for destruction.
A full press conference is expected later in the day, local time. We’ll update this story as it develops.
Source: CBS News / Associated Press.
Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty.