New York blast ‘intentional’ but no terror link at this point

NEW YORK, United States — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that they believed that the blast that rocked the city’s Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday and hurt 29 people was intentional.

Blasio however added that there was no immediate evidence of terrorism in the blast.

Authorities raised the number of injured to 29 people, one of whom was reported in serious condition.

“There is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident. This is preliminary information,” De Blasio told a news conference.

Of the 29 people wounded in the incident, 24 have been taken to hospitals with various degrees of scrapes and abrasions from glass and metal, said Fire Department commissioner Daniel Nigro.

Police said the specific cause of the explosion, which occurred on the street at around 8:30 pm (8:30 a.m., Manila time) was not clear but was not caused by gas.

“We believe it was intentional,” de Blasio said.

The mayor said it was not immediately apparent if the blast was connected to an explosion in a trash can in New Jersey earlier Saturday./rga