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THE 'homemade bomb' hidden in a trashcan that exploded in New York injuring at least 29 people was an "act of terror" and 1,000 extra police officers have been deployed in the city to protect Americans.

Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo said that officers would be visible at subways, airports and bus terminals for peace of mind so New Yorkers could go about their daily business without concern.

He told a press conference: "A bomb exploding in New York is an act of terror but not limited to international terrorism. That's how we are going to consider it."

He added: "We have no reason to believe at this time there is any further immediate threat but just to err on the side of caution we will be deploying close to an additional 1,000 New York state police and national guard people to police the bus terminals, airports and subway stations.

(Image: AP) (Image: AP)

"The bottom line on this is, whoever placed these bombs we will find and they will be brought to justice. Period.

"We will find who planted these explosives and they will be punished.

"We will not let these type of people and these type of threats disrupt our life in New York. That's what they want to do, we're not going to let them do it."

When asked if investigators thought the bomb could have been planted by an ISIS fanatic, the Governor said: "No-one has taken credit, there have been no international groups that have put out statements that are connecting them with this action.

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(Image: Reuters) (Image: Reuters)

"Now it depends on your definition of terrorism. A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism but it is not linked to international terrorism - in other words we find no link to ISIS."

The governor added that there had been 29 injured but no fatalities. All those injured have since been released from hospital.

He said: "That there were no fatalities is something to give thanks for today because when you see the amount of damage we really were very luck that there were no fatalities."

When asked if the attack could have been done by 'lone wolves' similar to the Boston Marathon bombing, Gov Cuomo said: "Could be because we just don't know.

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"We know there has been no international terrorist group claiming credit, but we don't know."

It was also revealed in the press conference that there was another 'incident' in nearby Seaside Park in New Jersey.

Gov Cuomo told how the device from that incident, a pipe bomb, was different to the one used in Manhattan.

Terrified witnesses said they heard a "loud boom" and felt the ground beneath them shake as a huge "fireball" erupted into the air.

(Image: Reuters) (Image: Reuters)

A second suspected bomb in a pressure cooker with wires attached to it and connected to what resembled a mobile phone was found blocks away.

CCTV caught the moment the explosive device detonated blasting out windows, damaging cars and sending dozens of terrified people running for their lives just days after the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The blast occurred at 8.30pm on 23rd Street, a major east-west thoroughfare in the fashionable downtown neighborhood of Chelsea as people enjoyed the New York city nightlife.

(Image: AP Photo/Nico Maounis)

(Image: REUTERS/Rashid Umar Abbasi)

(Image: Neha Jain via Twitter/Handout via REUTERS)

Eye-witnesses described the moment the device went off as NY city mayor Bill de Blasio said it was an "intentional act," but not being treated as terror-related.

Good Samaritan Ramon Lopez, 48, was one of hundreds of people caught up in the terrifying explosion - which witnesses said erupted "like a volcano."

Mr Lopez was running from the scene when he suddenly turned back to find his cousin.

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(Image: Ramon Lopez)

(Image: REUTERS)

But when he spotted a woman clutching her bleeding eye and covered in blood he raced over to help her.

Mr Lopez said: “I saw people running and I was with my cousin so I went back to get her because then I remembered I’m with somebody, wait a minute.

"There was some people laying and some people screaming ‘omg my god’ - and there was bleeding.

“So I approached them and said come with me and one African American lady said ‘I’ve got some something in my eye, oh my god.'

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“I said don’t worry. It was a big injury in her eye, but I couldn’t say it’s a big injury because she was almost collapsing.

“If she collapses she ain’t going to make it to the ambulance, so I tell her, ‘listen, you just got some minor injuries.'

Witness Deborah told Sky News: “All of a sudden we hear a boom and I mean it was loud and shook the building and everything. It was BAM and we ran.

“We saw people running towards us, holding their ears coughing and wiping their eyes and stuff like that, and we’re like ‘Are you alright?’ Are you alright?

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“And while we was doing that, we saw a big cloud of smoke.

“It was clear and there was a fireball in between.

Jakir Aussin, who works at a Dunkin Donuts at 23rd and Sixth Avenue, said: “It was a quiet night, and then I heard this deafening boom.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh god, a bomb,’ so I got down on the floor.

“I looked outside and it’s all broken glass, car alarms going off — I still don’t know what happened.”

Neha Jain, 24, who lives in the neighborhood, said she was sitting at home watching a movie when she heard a huge boom and everything shook.

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"Pictures on my wall fell, the window curtain came flying as if there was a big gush of wind," she told Reuters. "Then we could smell smoke. We went downstairs to see what happened, and firemen immediately told us to go back."

Police carrying out a sweep of the area in the aftermath found a second device - a pressure cooker with with wires connecting it to a mobile phone and a piece of paper with writing on it was found nearby, according to CNN.

The Bomb disposal unit was called to examine the device and mobile phone footage taken by residents captured the moment a robot recovered th suspected bomb.

(Image: Peter Gerber) (Image: CNN) (Image: Periscope) (Image: Barcroft Media)

Pressure cookers packed with explosives and detonated with timing devices were used by two Massachusetts brothers in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260.

New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said 29 people were hurt in the blast, and 24 of them had been taken to hospitals, including one he described as seriously injured.

The rest suffered various cuts, scrapes and other minor injuries.

The explosion, described by one neighbor as "deafening," happened outside the Associated Blind Housing facility at 135 W.23rd Street. The facility provides housing, training and other services for the blind.

(Image: REUTERS/Stephanie Keith) (Image: REUTERS/Stephanie Keith) (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

Hundreds of people were seen fleeing down the block as police rushed to cordon off the area.

Chris Gonzalez, visiting from Dallas, was having dinner with friends at a restaurant in the area.

"We felt it, we heard it, the restaurant went real quiet, the 26-year-old said. "It wasn't like jolting or anything, everyone just went quiet."

Rudy Alcide, a bouncer at Vanity Nightclub at 21st Street and 6th Avenue, said he, at first, thought something large had fallen.

"It was an extremely loud noise, everything was shaking, the windows were shaking, it was crazy," he said. "It was extremely loud, almost like thunder, but louder."

Tsi Tsi Mallett, who was driving along 23rd Street when the explosion took place, said the blast blew out her vehicle's rear window. Her 10-year-old son in the back seat was unhurt, she said.

"It was really loud, it hurt my eardrums."

(Image: AFP/Getty Images) (Image: REUTERS/Stephanie Keith) (Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

At a press conference Mayor Bill de Blasio said: "Tonight, New York City experienced a very bad incident.

"We have no credible and specific threat at this moment. There is no evidence at this point of a terror connection,"

He added: "Whatever the cause, whatever the intention here, New Yorkers are not going to be intimidated.

"We're not going to change who we are or how we go about our lives."

The mayor added that investigators did not believe there was any link to a pipe bomb that exploded earlier on Saturday in the New Jersey beach town of Seaside Park.

No injuries were reported in that blast, from a device planted in a plastic trash can along the route of a charity foot race.