Explosive device detonates near Elizabeth train station

 

An explosive device in a backpack detonated near the Elizabeth train station early Monday as authorities were using a bomb robot to examine the item, officials said. 

The blast occurred around 12:40 a.m. near Morris Avenue and Julian Place. The explosion was not a controlled blast, but happened as the robot was cutting the device, according to Mayor Christian Bollwage. No one was injured in the blast, Bollwage said.

Authorities found five devices inside a single backpack near the train station, including one that went off. After the explosion, press and bystanders were moved back because the other explosive devices inside of the backpack were believed to still be live, Bollwage said. As of 4 a.m., no other explosions were heard.
On Twitter, the FBI's Newark division said "multiple improvised explosive devices" were found near the train station.
The incident unfolded after two men found the backpack in a waste basket on North Broad Street and Julian Place around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, the mayor said.
The men took the backpack "because they thought it was of some value," walked for a bit, then saw wires and a pipe, dropped the package and notified Elizabeth Police, he said.
Bollwage told reporters the explosives were found not far from Wally's Pub near the train station.
"If that pub was crowded and there was a lot of people there, it could have severely injured, killed and maimed many, many people," Bollwage told reporters.

After the items were found, Union County's Bomb Squad was called in and used a drone to examine the backpack, the mayor said.
"The drone indicated it could be suspicious and it could be a live bomb," Bollwage said

Reached after midnight on Monday morning, a spokesman for the FBI in Newark, Special Agent Michael Whitaker, said only that his agency had responded to the scene, and declined to provide any details of the investigation. The FBI asked anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Police cordoned off the station and many streets surrounding it. The investigation halted train service on the busy Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coastline commuter rail lines, officials said early Monday.
Tickets and passes on both rail lines are being cross-honored on PATH along with NJ Transit and private buses, according to the transit agency.
Amtrak service was also suspended near Elizabeth, spokesman Craig Schulz said in a statement.
"We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and will resume service as soon as it is safe to do so," the spokesman said.
Approximately 2,400 Amtrak passengers were impacted by the service suspension, the spokesman said.
"Robust security measures are in place at stations, on trains and along the tracks and Amtrak Police remain in close contact with local, state and federal partner agencies to coordinate and share intelligence information," the statement said. "At this time there are no specific or credible threats against Amtrak."
Officials could not say yet when rail service would be restored as the investigation continued early Monday.
It was not immediately clear if the Elizabeth incident was linked to a bombing Saturday night in New York City that injured 29 people or another pipe-bomb style device that went off near a military charity race in Seaside Park also on Saturday.
Mayor Bollwage did say that the Elizabeth devices did not contain a cell phone or any other electronic detonators.