Cable news networks scrapped Saturday night programming to cover an explosion in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
Fox News reports at least 25 people were injured in the blast, which happened between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET, when a device inside a dumpster detonated.
The New York Post reports “the explosion, described by one neighbor as ‘deafening,’ happened outside the Associated Blind Housing facility at 135 W. 23rd Street. The facility provides housing, training and other services for the blind. According to police radio transmissions, the people inside the facility have been initially told to remain inside as police began their investigation.”
CNN reports a law enforcement source describes the source of the explosion as an improvised explosive device, or IED.
On MSNBC, Richard Engel, who was nearby when the explosion happened, said it did not sound like a “military” explosion. “There was a bang … I heard a bang.”
Engel reported a “massive response,” from the NYPD, but no sense of “escalating alarm.” Engel noted “we don’t know what this was, whether it was an act of terrorism” or not.
Presser starting soon on 23rd & 5th Avenue where Mayor de Blasio will talk to press pic.twitter.com/sIikZWH6pE
— Sandra E. Garcia (@S_Evangelina) September 18, 2016