New York Bombing Investigations Underway: No Link Made To International Terrorism

The bombing has been described as "terrorist activity" but has not been linked to major international terrorist groups.

Twenty-nine people were injured after a bomb detonated at 23rd street in Chelsea New York at roughly 8:30pm Saturday night, local time. Injured civilians were taken to hospital for treatment; they have all since been released.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has declined to call the "intentional" act terrorism as police have yet to narrow down a motive, the Guardian reports. However, Governor Andrew Cuomo described the bombing as terrorism regardless of its ultimate motive or perpetrator.

“There is no link at this time... to international terrorism,” he said, adding that police will consider any motive, terroristic, political or personal.

“Whoever placed these bombs, we will find and they will be brought to justice.”

Succeeding the first bomb, police located a second device a few blocks away on 27th street. It appeared to resemble a pressure cooker, which had been wired to a mobile phone and placed inside a plastic bag.

An eye witness described the blast as being "like a volcano," producing a wall of flame while "people were running for their lives."

Twitter user Daniel Gabrielli posted a video just moments after the event.

The explosion. Was so strong the entire neighborhood are on the street. We still have no idea. #nyc #manhattan pic.twitter.com/j9vncNfPHu

— Danilo Gabrielli (@DaniloGabrielli) 18 September 2016

The NY Daily News has reportedly been told by sources that the NYPD is investigating an unverified Tumblr user who made a post claiming responsibility for the bombing. The account has since been taken down.

Investigations remain underway.

Photo: Twitter - Richard Engel