A man set off a homemade bomb in a transfer tunnel near Times Square on Monday morning. This new attack in New York, after a ram truck attack at the end of October, left three people injured.
“This is an attempted terrorist attack,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters.
The explosion occurred at rush hour, at 7.20 a.m. (1.20 p.m. in Switzerland), in a tunnel connecting the major transport hubs of Times Square and the Port Authority bus station, near 42nd Street and 8th Street. Avenue.
“Rudimentary” machine
The explosion was triggered by a 27-year-old man, identified as Akayed Ullah, from the Brooklyn neighborhood, who was wearing “a rudimentary explosive device” strapped to his body, which allegedly detonated prematurely, the head of the police said. police, James O’Neill.
The suspect was arrested, with “wounds and burns to the body,” O’Neill added. Three people who were in the immediate vicinity were also injured, although “none is in danger of death” according to the New York firefighters.
The incident was recorded by surveillance cameras in the tunnel, the police chief said.
A video was circulating on social media and on the New York Post website, which shows a man in a hood walking through the tunnel, with many people in front and behind him, until smoke appeared, apparently at the time. of the explosion.
A photo that would show the suspect on the ground, doubled over with blood in his stomach, was also circulating on Twitter.
Quick and calm reaction
The bus station was quickly evacuated, the area cordoned off, and several metro lines that pass through the area were either immediately stopped or no longer stopped. Much of the traffic had however been restored shortly before 10:00 a.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT).
The evacuation was carried out without panic, in calm, according to AFP journalists on the spot.
In the name of the Islamic State
Former New York Police Chief Bill Bratton told MSNBC that he was told the suspect was from Bangladesh and acted on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) group. This information was not immediately confirmed by the authorities.
President Donald Trump was immediately informed, the White House said.
A very sensitive place
The incident comes ahead of the holiday season, which draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to the most populous city in the United States. Times Square is a particularly sensitive point, where nearly a million people gather each year to mark the transition to the new year.
New York is considered a prime target for terrorist movements and is under particularly close surveillance, with thousands of uniformed and plainclothes police permanently deployed in many tourist locations.
Six weeks later
Monday’s attack comes less than six weeks after a fatal attack on the tip of Manhattan on October 31: on Halloween, a ram truck attack left eight dead and twelve injured in the southern tip of Manhattan, constituting the first fatal attack in New York since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Sayfullo Saipov, a 29-year-old Uzbek, had taken a rental pickup up a cycle path along the Hudson River, mowing down cyclists and passers-by who were on his way. Path before hitting a school bus.
The suspect, who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, was immediately arrested and jailed. He has since been charged and faces life imprisonment. Donald Trump even called for the death penalty for him.
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