Margot Mather ’17, Features Editor
An explosion from a homemade bomb left inside a dumpster went off in New York City last night at 8:30 p.m. on West 23rd Street, injuring 29 people.
The impact of the bomb had people running for their lives in a smoke cloud, many sustaining injuries. None of which are life threatening according to New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio at an 11:15 p.m. news conference on the scene in Chelsea. The explosion also left windows shattered and damaged cars.
As soon as the bomb went off, paramedics and law enforcement officials swarmed the scene, including the NYPD Bomb Squad, The FBI, Homeland Security officials and explosive task forces.
A number of Staples were in New York City last night, including Swami Parimal ’18.
“There were a fair amount of police cars and sirens as we left the city around 10:30 p.m.” Parimal said.
Christina Dear ’17 was in New York City celebrating her birthday with friends in the East Village at the time of the explosion at a restaurant 2.5 miles from the scene.
“When I heard I was shocked and very confused,” Dear said.
“As we were about to get on the subway the police came on and yelled at everyone to get off the subway and started talking to the conductor,” Dear said. She and her friends were attempting to board the subway at the L train on First Avenue.
Sam Little ’17, who accompanied Dear said “in the city, there were tons of ambulances and police cars zooming down the street, and tons of traffic because people were trying to leave the city.”
Police quickly proceeded to shut down the area from 14th Street to 32nd Street between Fifth and Eighth Avenues, where apartment buildings and restaurants occupied the scene.
The incident appears to have been “an intentional act” however not connected to a terrorist group, with no immediate claim of responsibility according to De Blasio.
De Blasio urged anyone with any sort of information about the bombing to come forward.
A secondary device, a pressure cooker connected by a wire to an electronic device, was found a few blocks away on 27th street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, NYPD Special Operations Division said at 11 p.m.
“I tried not to think about the fact that there could have been another explosion,” Dear said.
The device was quickly removed by a Police Department truck, towing it in a spherical chamber around 2:25 a.m. today.
Authorities described this device as similar to that of the car bomb detonated at the Boston Marathon bombings in April of 2013.
Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo said that officers would occupy subways, airports and bus terminals in the surrounding area in order to ensure public safety.
“Whatever the cause,” De Blasio said, “New Yorkers will not be intimidated.”
Law enforcement officials will continue to investigate this ongoing story.
Photo used under the Creative Commons license
