Terrorist Explodes Bomb at 42 St. Subway; 3 Minor Injuries

NEW YORK (AP/Hamodia) —
subway bomb
Law enforcement officials near the scene of the attack. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

A crude pipe bomb strapped to a man inspired by the Islamic State terror group went off Monday in a crowded subway corridor near Times Square, injuring the bomber, slightly wounding three others and snarling the rush-hour commute for hundreds of thousands of New York workers.

Surveillance cameras captured the man walking casually through the crowded passageway when the bomb suddenly went off at 7:20 a.m. amid a plume of white smoke, which cleared to show the man sprawled on the ground and commuters fleeing in terror. Investigators said it was not clear if the bomb was set off intentionally or went off prematurely.

subway bomb
Akayed Ullah, in his 2011 driver’s license photo. (New York Department of Motor Vehicles via AP)

The suspect, who was identified as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, was being treated at a hospital for burns to his hands and abdomen. The others who were injured suffered ringing in the ears and headaches.

Law-enforcement officials said Ullah was inspired by Islamic State but had apparently not had any direct contact with the terror group. The officials said he lives in Brooklyn and came to the U.S. from Bangladesh about seven years ago on a visa. They said he was speaking with investigators from his hospital bed.

A person briefed on the investigation said Ullah came to the U.S. on an F-4 visa, a preferential visa available for those with family in the U.S. who are citizens or permanent residents, and that he made the bomb in his Brooklyn apartment.

Police are searching several residences in Brooklyn associated with Ullah and his family.

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One of the homes believed to be associated with Ullah that police were searching following the attack, at Ocean Parkway and Newkirk Avenue in Brooklyn. (Reuvain Borchardt/Hamodia)

The explosion, which happened in an underground passageway under 42nd Street between 7th and 8th avenues, triggered a massive emergency response by police and firefighters both above and below ground, tangling subway and bus service at the nearby Port Authority bus terminal.

Everything around Times Square was shut down, halting what would ordinarily be a bustling rush hour at the “Crossroads of the World.”

Authorities said the bomb was a low-tech explosive device attached to the man with Velcro and plastic ties. They were investigating how it was made.

A photo published by the New York Post showed a bearded man crumpled on the ground with his shirt apparently blown off and black soot covering his bare midriff. A police officer was holding the man’s hands behind his back. Another photo shown on cable channel NY1 showed the bearded suspect, wide-eyed, on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.

Elrana Peralta, a customer-service worker for Greyhound, said she works in the Port Authority terminal complex near where the blast happened but did not hear the explosion.

“All we could hear was the chaos,” she said. “We could hear people yelling, ‘Get out! Get out! Get out!'”

John Miles, 28, from Vermont, was waiting for a bus to Massachusetts. He did not hear the blast either, but saw police react.

“I didn’t know what was going on. Officers were running around. I was freaking out,” he said. There was an announcement that people should take their bags and leave. “They didn’t incite panic. It was fairly orderly.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the explosion.

The blast came just weeks after eight people died in New York when another man, also said to be inspired by the Islamic State, drove a rented truck onto a bike path near the World Trade Center.

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