Explosion rocks NY commuter hub

NEW YORK: A Bangladeshi man with a homemade bomb strapped to his body set off an explosion at a New York commuter hub during rush hour on Monday, wounding himself and three others in what New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called an attempted terrorist attack.

The suspect in the incident at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, a block from Times Square, was identified as Akayed Ullah, the New York Police Department commissioner said.

The suspect had burns and lacerations while three other people, including a police officer, sustained minor injuries.

Akayed Ullah is from the Bangladeshi city of Chittagong and is a US resident, said the country’s police chief. He had no criminal record there and last visited Bangladesh on Sept 8, the chief said.

He had a black cab/limousine driver’s license from 2012 to 2015, after which it expired, the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission said.

The weapon was based on a pipe bomb and fixed to the suspect with zip ties and velcro, police said.

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, speaking at a news conference near the site, described the device as "amateur-level”.

De Blasio told the same news conference that the incident, which happened at the start of the city’s rush hour, was "an attempted terrorist attack”.

The incident was captured on security video, police said. Video posted on NYPost.com showed smoke and a man lying in the tunnel that connects sections of the Times Square subway station and the bus station. A photograph showed a man lying face down, with tattered clothes and burns on his torso.