"This is the first time I believe that we have seen an individual with a suicide bomb in mass transit and actually have that bomb function. On Tuesday, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi man was charged in federal court with terrorism crimes for detonating a pipe bomb in a pedestrian tunnel beneath Times Square. Chemicals inside the pipe bomb ignited, but the pipe itself did not explode, officials said, limiting injuries to the suspect and three bystanders. "The suicide bomb factor has been a part of the screening there for many years." Police already work closely with the internal security teams at office towers in Times Square, some of which increased the security presence in the lobbies of their buildings after Monday's attack.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 12, 2017 22:41 UTC