A suspicious device exploded at a train station in Elizabeth, New Jersey, as a police robot attempted to disarm it early Monday morning.
Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage confirmed federal, state, and local officials were called after five suspicious devices were found at the city’s train station late on Sunday.
#BREAKING video shows moment bomb robot accidentally detonated device found @ Elizabeth NJ train station. @PIX11News
Bollwage said the devices were discovered in a trash can by two men at around 8:30 p.m. near the Elizabeth train station on New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor rail line. The men had reported seeing wires and a pipe coming out of a backpack, he told NJTV.
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.
At about 12.30 a.m. one of the devices exploded as a police robot attempted to disarm it. No one was injured.
FBI Bomb Squad is on scene and continuing the investigation at the train station in Midtown Elizabeth.
Bollwage said the explosion occurred "when the robot was cutting" the device. The area was cleared by law enforcement and transport began to resume by 7.30 a.m. Monday.
Bollwage said he did not think that Elizabeth had been the target 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.
Meanwhile, the FBI took several people into custody Sunday night in possible connection to the bombing in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, according to New York Sen. Marty Golden.
The Chelsea explosion occurred Saturday night on 23rd Street and injured 29 people. Officials also found and removed another suspicious device four blocks away.
"The FBI took several individuals into custody on the Belt Parkway in the area underneath the Verrazano Bridge, with a possible connection to the bombing last night in Chelsea," Golden said. He represents Brooklyn's 22nd Senate District and is a retired New York City police officer.
FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser said to BuzzFeed News that agents did stop a "vehicle of interest in the investigation." The FBI said no one has been charged.
The car was headed over the Verrazano Bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn when it was stopped Sunday night, the New York Daily News reported.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.
CORRECTION
The explosion in Elizabeth took place shortly after 12:30 a.m. An earlier version of this post said it took place at 2:30 a.m.