Chelsea Explosion: What We Know and Don’t Know

By CHRISTOPHER MELE

SEPT. 18, 2016

(本文没有音频就听听歌吧)

A powerful explosion went off on West 23rd Street in Manhattan[曼哈顿] around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, injuring 29 people, shattering[1] windows and prompting widespread street closures.

Mayor Bill de Blasio held a news conference late on Saturday night in which he called the explosion “an intentional act[行为].”

►Where was the explosion?

The police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said it happened in front of 131 West 23rd Street around 8:30 p.m. Witnesses said the explosion seemed to have come from a Dumpster[2]on a sidewalk.

Officials said they believed the explosion had been caused by a homemade bomb.

►Where was the second device found?

It was found on West 27th Street between the Avenue of Americas and Seventh Avenue almost three hours after the explosion. The authorities described it as a pressure-cooker[高压锅] device like the one used in the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.

A photograph of the device that was shared on social media showed a silver piece of cookware with wires and a cellphone attached. The police confirmed the photo was authentic.

►What happened to that device?

The Police Department bomb squad[拆弹小组;防爆小组] removed the device around 2:25 a.m. to the department’s firing range at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx, where it will be inspected by robots.

►What was the nature of the injuries?

Many of the injuries were caused by shrapnel[飞溅的弹片] from the explosion. The injuries were not life-threatening, though one person was seriously hurt, officials said.

►Was this an act of terrorism?

The mayor called the explosion “an intentional act” but said at a news conference late on Saturday night that there was no known connection to terrorism.

He added that there was “no specific and credible threat against New York City at this point in time from any terror organization.”

►Are there any suspects?

The police commissioner said at the news conference that no suspect was in custody[拘留;监禁]. “We are still in the process of trying to figure that out,” he said.

Mr. O’Neill said the authorities had collected video of the explosion but asked the public for any footage it might have, as well as eyewitness accounts and tips[目击实录和线索].

►What streets were closed after the explosion?

The Police Department issued an advisory[报告;公告;警告] around 1 a.m. on Sunday that 14th Street to 32nd Street was closed eastbound and westbound to vehicular traffic[东行和西行车辆] between Fifth and Eighth Avenues. The closure, which was related to the search for other devices, evidence and surveillance video[监控录像], was in effect until further notice, the department said.

►Was there a connection to an explosion in New Jersey[新泽西州]?

Officials said the New York explosion was not tied to a blast that happened 11 hours before when an improvised device[简易装置] exploded in a garbage can near the course of a charity race that was about to start in Seaside Park, N.J.

That device went off around 9:30 a.m. There were no injuries.

►What we don’t know

• Who was responsible for the explosion.

• What was inside the pressure cooker.

• Why the site of the explosion was selected.

• A motive behind the explosion.

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[1]shatter

to (cause something to) break suddenly into very small pieces （使）破碎；粉碎

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

玻璃碎成无数块细小的碎片。

His leg was shattered in the accident.

他在事故中腿骨碎裂。

to end or severely damage something 终结；严重破坏

The book shattered all her illusions about the Romans.

这本书击碎了她对罗马人的一切幻想。

Noisy motorbikes shattered the peace/calm/stillness.

吵闹的摩托车声打破了宁静。

[2]Dumpster：a large open container for putting old bricks, rubbish/garbage, etc. in. The Dumpster is then loaded on a lorry/truck and taken away.大垃圾桶（装工地废料、垃圾等，由卡车拖走）

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