Manhattan Explosion: police say suspect injured and in custody

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Manhattan Explosion: police say suspect injured and in custody
Manhattan Explosion: police say suspect injured and in custody
Manhattan Explosion: police say suspect injured and in custody
Manhattan Explosion: police say suspect injured and in custody

Explosion at Manhattan bus terminal, 1 person taken into custody.

A man had an explosive device strapped on when it exploded in a New York City subway, a US law enforcement official has said.

The device was set off on a subway platform, police said.

The explosion happened at around 7.30am on 40th Street and Eighth Avenue near Times Square.

A suspect has been arrested and has non-life-threatening injuries.

The New York Police Department have confirmed the suspect is the only person injured in the incident.

Passengers were evacuated as a precaution from the subway line where the explosion happened.

President Donald Trump “has been briefed on the explosion in New York City”, his press secretary Sarah Sanders said.

Andre Rodriguez, 62, told the New York Times that he heard an explosion shortly before 7.30am.

He added: “I was going through the turnstile.

“It sounded like an explosion, and everybody started running.”

The Port Authority Bus Terminal Twitter account initially said the building was open but they have now confirmed the building is closed following the incident.

Local news channel WABC cited police sources as saying a possible pipe bomb detonated in a passageway below ground at Port Authority.

“There was a stampede up the stairs to get out,” said Diego Fernandez, one of the commuters at Port Authority. “Everybody was scared and running and shouting.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and President Donald Trump have been briefed on the incident, according to local media and the White House.

News of the incident jarred financial markets as trading was getting underway for the week. Standard & Poor’s 500 index emini futures pared gains, the dollar weakened against the yen and U.S. Treasury securities prices gained on a modest flight-to-safety bid.

The incident occurred less than two months after an Uzbek immigrant killed eight people by speeding a rental truck down a New York City bike path, in an attack for which Islamic State claimed responsibility.

In September 2016, a man injured more than two dozen people when he set off a homemade bomb in New York’s Chelsea district.

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