New York: An explosion rocked New York's neighbourhood of Chelsea on Saturday wounding 29 people but with no apparent terror connection at this point, officials said.
One of the 29 people injured in the blast, which police are treating as intentional, is in serious condition, officials added. "There is no evidence at this point of a terror connection to this incident, this is preliminary information," Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference.
"It's something we will be investigating very carefully, but there is no evidence at this point of a terror connection," he added.
Of the 29 people wounded in the incident, 24 have been taken to hospitals with various degrees of scrapes and abrasions from glass and metal, said Fire Department commissioner Daniel Nigro.
Police said the specific cause of the explosion, which occurred on the street at around 8:30pm (0030 GMT) was not clear but was not caused by gas.
"We believe it was intentional," de Blasio said.
The mayor said it was not immediately apparent if the blast was connected to an explosion in a trash can in New Jersey earlier Saturday.
Donald said several people were taken to hospitals with injuries. The Fire Department had earlier tweeted that none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. No detail about the extent of damage was immediately available.
Numerous emergency vehicles are in the area, which is a major thoroughfare with many restaurants.
Witnesses say FBI and Homeland Security officials are also at the scene. A number of New York City subway routes have been affected by the incident.
Chris Gonzalez, visiting from Dallas, was having dinner with friends at a restaurant in the area. "We felt it, we heard it, the restaurant went real quiet, the 26-year-old Gonzalez said. "It wasn't like jolting or anything, everyone just went quiet."
The blast comes hours after a pipe bomb exploded in a garbage can in Seaside Park, New Jersey, during a Marine Corps charity run.
Second site under investigation
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says a second Manhattan site is under investigation.
A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that a second device officers are investigating a few blocks from the scene of a Manhattan explosion appears to be a pressure cooker attached to wiring and a cellphone.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation, says the device was found inside a plastic bag on West 27th Street.
Police are advising residents of the block where the device was found to stay away from windows facing 27th Street.
The pressure-cooker device was found four blocks from the location on West 23rd Street where an explosion injured more than two dozen people Saturday night.
