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Explosion that injured 29 New Yorkers intentional but not terrorism: mayor

All of the injured released. Blast comes just hours after John Key arrives in the city.

Sun, 18 Sep 2016

An explosion that injured 29 New Yorkers on Saturday night local time was intentional but not terrorism, mayor Bill de Blasio says.

"There is no evidence at this point of a terror connection," he told a press conference about three hours after the blast. "There is no specific and credible threat against New York City at this point in time from any terror organisation."

The blast occurred just hours after Prime Minister John Key arrived in New York to mark New Zealand taking over the presidency of the UN Security Council for the next three months.

City officials say investigators have 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, according to a Reuters report.

Mr de Blasio told media there was evidence it was an "intentional act," but there was no evidence the person who planted the bomb had any global ties.

Some 29 people were injured, most by flying shrapnel, after an improvised explosive device inside a dumpster outside an apartment building in the crowded Manhattan neighbourhood of Chelsea.

The blast was strong enough to hurl the dumpster across the street and shatter windows in nearby buildings.

Some were injured badly enough to be taken to hospital but none of the injuries is life-threatening. Those taken to hospital were all released within hours.

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 cellphone. A piece of paper with writing on it was found nearby, according to CNN's account.

The New York dumpster bomb happened within hours of two other incidents: a man who went on a stabbing rampage in a mall in Minnesota, injuring eight — and mentioning Allah to one — before he was shot before he was shot by an off-duty police officer, and a pipe bomb that went off in a garbage can in a small town in New Jersey with no reported injuries.

Below: CCTV footage of the moment of the blast

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have both so far refrained from taking to social media to comment on the incident.

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Explosion that injured 29 New Yorkers intentional but not terrorism: mayor
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