Pipe Bomb Detonated at NYC's Port Authority

Dec. 11, 2017
Four people were injured and the suspect quickly apprehended in the terror attack Monday morning.

Dec. 11-- NEW YORK-- A small pipe bomb went off near the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York on Monday, and the suspect was immediately taken into custody, police sources said.

The blast happened in an underground subway passage just 200 feet from the terminal at West 42nd St. and Eighth Ave., the sources said.

Port Authority cops immediately arrested the suspect, who was injured in the explosion. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is expected to survive, sources said.

Four people in total were wounded at the scene, the FDNY confirmed, all of whom have non-life-threatening injuries.

Police found an explosive device on the suspect, who had wires attached to his body, one source added.

Authorities evacuated the A, C and E trains, but didn't find any structural damage.

"It's pretty chaotic over there right now," said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation.

Investigators were combing through subway surveillance video to figure out from where the assailant may have entered the area.

Several blocks of Eighth Ave. were shut down as emergency vehicles flooded the area.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has been briefed about the ongoing situation, as has President Donald Trump.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo was photographed with MTA Chair Joe Lhota inside the Times Square subway station being briefed on the situation.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has been added to the team investigating the explosion.

The early morning blast sent a wave of panic through the busy area, as commuters scrambled to safety.

Ulises Sanchez, 53, saw people come pouring out on the street after the blast went off.

"A lady told me, 'Go away. There was an explosion down there,'" said Sanchez, 53. "Everybody was trying to get out."

Witnesses recalled a stampede of people out of the subway and the sprawling bus terminal, with reports of more people injured in the rush.

Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, speaking on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," said preliminary information suggests the man is in his 20s, possibly from Bangladesh, "who supposedly was setting the device off in the name of ISIS, so definitely a terrorist attack, definitely intended."

The man has been in the country for about seven years, Bratton said.

No group has taken responsibility for the attack, and the NYPD hasn't confirmed a motive.

The blast comes amid calls from ISIS to attack the Big Apple during the Christmas season.

___ (c)2017 New York Daily News Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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