By Aaron Miller-
A man is has been arrested after a device in his possession detonated prematurely at a busy bus terminal in Manhattan.
The blast occurred on Monday morning in an underpass at the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square, but only the suspect was hurt. Lw officials say the suspect may have unintentionally set off a pipe bomb. A tweet by the law enforcement department read:
“The NYPD is responding to reports of an explosion of unknown origin at 42nd Street and 8th Ave, #Manhattan,” tweeted the department.
“The A, C and E line are being evacuated at this time. Info is preliminary, more when available.”
ABC News quotes police sources as saying that a possible pipe bomb was detonated in a passageway below ground at the terminal.
The city fire department said there was “one non-life-threatening injury”.
Reporters from Newyork television station, WPIX TV stated that another man with a “possible second device” was detained in the subway tunnel, law enforcement sources after “having wires coming out of him”, according to the New York television station
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incident.
The Port Authority Bus Terminal is the largest in the U.S, used by an estimated 70 million people a year.
Commuters underground close to 40th Street and 8th Avenue began ran for their lives, after hearing the loud bang in the Port Authority subway station. Police officers, firefighters and Port Authority counterterrorism officials moved in quickly to evacuate the bus station and the west side of 8th Avenue. Several passengers headed for work were in reverse gear, and decided to cancel their daily appointments and return to the safety of their homes.
Andre Rodriguez, 62, a caseworker at one of the city’s shelters, said he heard an explosion shortly before 7:30.
“I was going through the turnstile,” he said. “It sounded like an explosion, and everybody started running.”
Alicja Wlodkowski, 51, said that she had been in a restaurant inside the Port Authority when she suddenly saw a crowd of people running.
“A woman fell, and nobody even stopped to help her because it was so crazy,” she said. Then it all slowed down. I was standing and watching and scared.”