Beaches reopened after pipe bomb blast, probe ongoing

A pipe bomb exploded in a Jersey Shore town on Saturday, shortly before thousands of runners were due to participate in a charity 5km race to benefit US Marines and sailors, authorities said.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said there is no connection so far between Saturday's explosion in a trash can in Seaside Park and in New York, but the San Genarro Festival in Belmar was canceled for Sunday as a precaution.

Law enforcement authorities said they did not know the motive for the blast. He also declined to take questions from reporters, citing the "active, ongoing" investigation.

No injuries were reported in the blast in Seaside Park, which occurred around 9:30am Saturday.

Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday morning that investigators have "promising leads" on the perpetrators responsible for a pipe bomb explosion just before the start of a 5K race Saturday morning.

UPDATE: A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that an explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood appears to have come from a construction toolbox in front of a building.

Officials say the device was timed to detonate during the race but the start was delayed while a suspicious rucksack was investigated.

(1335 GMT) in a plastic garbage container ahead of the 5 km race in Seaside Park, a resort about 80 miles south of New York City, the Ocean County prosecutor's office.

"The fortunate thing here in New Jersey is that no one was injured", Christie said.

"We are taking every step to ensure the safety of the public and to determine who was responsible for this explosion, which occurred at a time when runners in this charity race could have been in harms way", Porrino said. He said the site of the explosion, outside on a major thoroughfare of a fashionable enclave in one of the most bustling areas of New York City, was being treated as a crime scene. He said no additional devices were found after the dogs completed their sweep.

He said those in the area have been through a lot, with Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and its aftermath, and now the bomb blast.

Authorities immediately canceled the race, the Seaside Semper Five 5K, closed the beach and the surrounding blocks and evacuated dozens of homes as a search for more devices ensued.

The device is being described as a "pipe bomb-style device" based on a preliminary investigation by officials from the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad, Della Fave said. MacArthur said that person needs to be "tracked down and brought to justice".

All beaches have reopened in the Jersey Shore town where a pipe bo... It was not immediately clear if the extremist group had planned the attack or even knew about it beforehand.