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| Pipe Bombs Found Near Train Station in Elizabeth, N.J., Official Says | Pipe Bombs Found Near Train Station in Elizabeth, N.J., Official Says |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| ELIZABETH, N.J. — The bomb drama rattling the New York region arrived here on Sunday night when two men walked out of Hector’s Place Restaurant near the city’s train station and found a backpack containing five explosives resting atop a municipal garbage can, Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said. | ELIZABETH, N.J. — The bomb drama rattling the New York region arrived here on Sunday night when two men walked out of Hector’s Place Restaurant near the city’s train station and found a backpack containing five explosives resting atop a municipal garbage can, Mayor J. Christian Bollwage said. |
| After finding that the backpack contained “wires and a pipe,” the mayor said, the men dropped the item in the street and contacted the Elizabeth Police Department shortly about 8:45 p.m. The police, in turn, called the Union County bomb squad, and the investigation was quickly turned over to the F.B.I. and the New Jersey State Police, Mr. Bollwage said. | After finding that the backpack contained “wires and a pipe,” the mayor said, the men dropped the item in the street and contacted the Elizabeth Police Department shortly about 8:45 p.m. The police, in turn, called the Union County bomb squad, and the investigation was quickly turned over to the F.B.I. and the New Jersey State Police, Mr. Bollwage said. |
| The F.B.I. then sent in a pair of robots and determined that the backpack held five bombs, some of which were pipe bombs, the mayor said. | The F.B.I. then sent in a pair of robots and determined that the backpack held five bombs, some of which were pipe bombs, the mayor said. |
| Around 12:30 a.m., the robots tried to clip a wire to disarm one bomb and accidentally detonated it, the mayor said. | |
| “As a robot was trying to disarm one of the devices it exploded,” he said. No injuries were reported. | “As a robot was trying to disarm one of the devices it exploded,” he said. No injuries were reported. |
| The mayor said around 3 a.m. Monday that one robot was destroyed and another had a mechanical arm blown off. | The mayor said around 3 a.m. Monday that one robot was destroyed and another had a mechanical arm blown off. |
| It was not yet known whether the backpack found here had any connection to a bomb that injured 29 people in Manhattan on Saturday night, or to a bomb nearby that failed to detonate, or to a bomb that went off on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, N.J. without injuring anybody. | It was not yet known whether the backpack found here had any connection to a bomb that injured 29 people in Manhattan on Saturday night, or to a bomb nearby that failed to detonate, or to a bomb that went off on Saturday morning in Seaside Park, N.J. without injuring anybody. |
| As federal and county agents scoured the elevated tracks and platforms for anything else suspicious, Elizabeth police officers checked all municipal garbage cans. | As federal and county agents scoured the elevated tracks and platforms for anything else suspicious, Elizabeth police officers checked all municipal garbage cans. |
| Police cars and yellow tape blocked every car and pedestrian route to the station early Monday morning. The city was eerily calm but for the flickering of red-and-blue police lights on the buildings downtown. | Police cars and yellow tape blocked every car and pedestrian route to the station early Monday morning. The city was eerily calm but for the flickering of red-and-blue police lights on the buildings downtown. |
| Dean Fage, 49, was walking past police cars and officers at the station when the bomb went off. | Dean Fage, 49, was walking past police cars and officers at the station when the bomb went off. |
| “People were screaming; a woman yelled, ‘What the hell was that?’” he said. “I felt it in my chest. I thought when they find bombs they take them and detonate them somewhere else.” | “People were screaming; a woman yelled, ‘What the hell was that?’” he said. “I felt it in my chest. I thought when they find bombs they take them and detonate them somewhere else.” |
| As of 3:30 a.m. on Monday, F.B.I. agents were still working to envelop the four remaining bombs in blastproof material so they could be preserved for evidence. They were to be taken to the Middlesex County Fire Academy, where they would be picked up by federal agents who would take them to Quantico, Va. | As of 3:30 a.m. on Monday, F.B.I. agents were still working to envelop the four remaining bombs in blastproof material so they could be preserved for evidence. They were to be taken to the Middlesex County Fire Academy, where they would be picked up by federal agents who would take them to Quantico, Va. |
| F.B.I. agents worked through the early morning hours to document where the debris from the exploded bomb had landed. It was on the street level, which meant the train tracks above were not affected, the mayor said. Nonetheless, the immediate area would remain closed for 24 hours, he said. | F.B.I. agents worked through the early morning hours to document where the debris from the exploded bomb had landed. It was on the street level, which meant the train tracks above were not affected, the mayor said. Nonetheless, the immediate area would remain closed for 24 hours, he said. |
| The men who initially found the backpack were not suspects, the mayor said. Thinking that it contained valuables, they had carried it perhaps 1,000 feet before becoming exhausted by its weight. They set it down where their muscles gave out, beside an S.U.V. under the New Jersey Transit overpass on Broad Street at the station downtown, the mayor said. | The men who initially found the backpack were not suspects, the mayor said. Thinking that it contained valuables, they had carried it perhaps 1,000 feet before becoming exhausted by its weight. They set it down where their muscles gave out, beside an S.U.V. under the New Jersey Transit overpass on Broad Street at the station downtown, the mayor said. |
| Law enforcement officials were examining surveillance video from the cameras of the bar near where the backpack was found. The mayor said that the area had been searched and that no other such packages had been found. | Law enforcement officials were examining surveillance video from the cameras of the bar near where the backpack was found. The mayor said that the area had been searched and that no other such packages had been found. |
| Mr. Bollwage said he did not think that Elizabeth had necessarily been targeted by an attacker. | Mr. Bollwage said he did not think that Elizabeth had necessarily been targeted by an attacker. |
| “It is very possible that someone was trying to get rid of a package, as opposed to setting it off,” he said. | “It is very possible that someone was trying to get rid of a package, as opposed to setting it off,” he said. |
| Mr. Bollwage said late Sunday that all trains from New Jersey Transit and Amtrak going through Elizabeth had been shut down and that a shuttle would arrive to shepherd stranded passengers away. More than 2,000 riders were affected. | Mr. Bollwage said late Sunday that all trains from New Jersey Transit and Amtrak going through Elizabeth had been shut down and that a shuttle would arrive to shepherd stranded passengers away. More than 2,000 riders were affected. |
| An Amtrak spokesman, Craig Schulz, said that service would resume “as soon as it is safe to do so.” | An Amtrak spokesman, Craig Schulz, said that service would resume “as soon as it is safe to do so.” |
| In a statement, New Jersey Transit said that all service along the Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Coast lines had been suspended in both directions until further notice. | In a statement, New Jersey Transit said that all service along the Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Coast lines had been suspended in both directions until further notice. |
| A spokeswoman for New Jersey Transit, Nancy Snyder, confirmed that rail service had been suspended because of the investigation but could not comment further, as the package had “not been found on our property.” | A spokeswoman for New Jersey Transit, Nancy Snyder, confirmed that rail service had been suspended because of the investigation but could not comment further, as the package had “not been found on our property.” |
| Early Monday morning, Mr. Schulz said that Amtrak trains had been moved into stations so that passengers could disembark and find other ways to travel. He said that refunds or credits would be arranged with customers on a case-by-case basis. | Early Monday morning, Mr. Schulz said that Amtrak trains had been moved into stations so that passengers could disembark and find other ways to travel. He said that refunds or credits would be arranged with customers on a case-by-case basis. |
| Mr. Bollwage said that he was worried on behalf of the residents in the community where the bomb was found, but that his fears extended beyond the city that he governs. | Mr. Bollwage said that he was worried on behalf of the residents in the community where the bomb was found, but that his fears extended beyond the city that he governs. |
| He said he was “extremely concerned for everybody in the state and the country, where somebody can go and drop a backpack into a garbage can that has multiple explosives in it.” | He said he was “extremely concerned for everybody in the state and the country, where somebody can go and drop a backpack into a garbage can that has multiple explosives in it.” |
| “You have to wonder how many people could have been hurt,” he added. “I could imagine if all five of them went off at the same time, the loss of life could have been tremendous.” | “You have to wonder how many people could have been hurt,” he added. “I could imagine if all five of them went off at the same time, the loss of life could have been tremendous.” |