Four injured after attempted terror attack in New York
Witnesses have described terrifying scene of people “running for their lives” after a man detonated a homemade bomb inside the New York subway system during Monday morning rush hour.
Authorities called the explosion in the terminal at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue an "attempted terrorist attack" and police identified the suspect in custody as Akayed Ullah, 27.
The suspect, a former cab driver believed to be from Bangladesh, strapped an improvised pipe bomb to his body with velcro and zip ties that exploded in an underground passageway.
The New York Post report he carried out the attack as revenge, saying from his hospital bed according to law enforcement sources the Post spoke to: “They’ve been bombing in my country and I wanted to do damage here.”
New York governor Andrew Cuomo described the explosive as an unsophisticated “low-tech device” that the suspect learnt how to make on the internet.
He told CNN the man “wound up hurting himself” when the device partially detonated in the passageway.
The New York Police Department said Akayed was in custody at Bellevue Hospital in a serious condition suffering burns and lacerations to his hands and abdomen.
Three people suffered minor, “non-life-threatening” injuries including ringing in their ears n, the New York Fire Department confirmed. One of the injured was a Port Authority police officer.