New York bombing: Five 'explosive devices' found at New Jersey train station

Device explodes as bomb squad attempts to disarm it with robot

A suspicious device found in a backpack at a train station in New Jersey exploded as a bomb squad was attempting to disarm it with a robot.

Local mayor Christian Bollwage said the FBI robot accidentally cut the wrong wire while working to disarm one of five devices found in the same bag, which was discovered in a trash can by two men around 8:30pm on Sunday, near the Elizabeth train station on the Northeast Corridor rail line.

The men had reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of the package, Mr Bollwage said.

“The robots that were going it to disarm it cut a wire and it exploded", the mayor told CNN. "I don’t know the technological aspect of that. I know there are other devices.

"I don’t know what they are made up of but they are going to have to be removed and all the fragments from the other pieces are going to have to be picked up so the FBI can investigate this fully.”

There was no immediate report of injuries or damage.

Mr Bollwage warned that other explosions were expected.

NJ Transit service was suspended early Monday between Newark Liberty Airport and Elizabeth, and New Jersey-bound Amtrak trains were being held at New York Penn Station, officials said, while New York-bound Amtrak trains were being held in Trenton.

The discovery of the suspicious package comes after an explosion in Manhattan on Saturday evening injured 29 people.

An unexploded pressure-cooker was found four blocks away.

Investigators described the bombs as pressure cookers filled with shrapnel - the same method used in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said the second device appeared “similar in design” to the first, though officials haven’t revealed any further details.

But separate US media reports, citing officials off the record, say both devices had flip phones and Christmas lights as makeshift detonators.

Also Saturday, a pipe bomb exploded about an hour from the Elizabeth train station in Seaside Park, New Jersey, forcing the cancellation of a military charity 5K run.

Officials said it didn't appear that those two incidents were connected, though they weren't ruling anything out.

Bomb Blasts in New York City and New Jersey | Graphiq

Investigators are yet to comment on whether they thought the Elizabeth incident was connected to either of the two blasts.