At least five devices were found in a backpack inside a waste basket in Elizabeth, New Jersey Sunday, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage told CNN. Cell phones and electronic timers were discovered on or around the items, Bollowage indicated.
The devices were found near a train trestle by two men who found the package in the waste basket and contacted police when they noticed wires and a pipe, the mayor said. As a result, of the discovery, train service has been suspended. One of the devices was accidentally detonated by a law enforcement drone robot meant to disarm it.
#BREAKING video shows moment bomb robot accidentally detonated device found @ Elizabeth NJ train station. @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/xfO97F2ebm
— Anthony DiLorenzo (@ADiLorenzoTV) September 19, 2016
Businesses shut down and were evacuated around the Northeast Corridor train tracks in Elizabeth when the suspicious device was first found, CBS New York reported.
Local law enforcement sent in bomb technicians, a HAZMAT team and a drone to examine the suspicious item.
FBI Bomb Squad is on scene and continuing the investigation at the train station in Midtown Elizabeth. pic.twitter.com/qvmzsgisjC
. @CNN reports @MayorBollwage says police have detonated suspicious package found @CityofElizabeth train station
— Matt Buynak (@MattBuynakWTNH) September 19, 2016
— Chris Bollwage (@MayorBollwage) September 19, 2016
Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage tweeted there is “no threat to public safety.”
There is no threat to public safety as the package is being secured and investigated.
— Chris Bollwage (@MayorBollwage) September 19, 2016
“There is no threat to public safety as the package is being secured and investigated,” Bollwage said.
The discovery comes after two separate bombings happened in New York and Seaside Park, New Jersey Saturday, where 29 people were injured in the explosion in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. According to reports both blasts appear to be linked.
A third undetonated device was found just blocks away from the explosion in Chelsea. The FBI took five individuals into custody but no charges have been filed.
