Officials: Manhattan bombs designed to create maximum chaos, fatalities

The two bombs placed in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on Saturday night were designed to create "maximum chaos and fatalities," law enforcement officials told The New York Times.

One bomb exploded, injuring 29 people, while the other did not detonate. The officials said the bombs were filled with "fragmentation materials," including small bearings or metal BBs, and made with pressure cookers, flip phones, and Christmas lights. They also said tests showed that the explosive material in the bomb found on 23rd Street was similar to Tannerite, a commercially available compound. Authorities are still examining whether the bombs left in Manhattan were connected with three pipe bombs left inside a trash can in New Jersey earlier in the day; just one went off, and no one was injured.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said on Sunday that so far, "there is no evidence of an international terrorism connection with this incident," and officials told the Times they do not know of any political or social motive behind the attacks. The 29 people injured Saturday night primarily suffered cuts and abrasions, and all have been released from the hospital.

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