Two small makeshift grenades exploded outside a Midtown Manhattan building housing the British Consulate early Thursday, Election Day in England, causing slight damage but injuring no one, officials said.
A piece of concrete was missing from a planter outside 845 Third Avenue after the explosions.
The blasts happened at 3:35 a.m.
The grenades had been placed inside a cement flower box outside the front door of the building at 845 Third Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, police spokesman Noel Waters said.
"We do not at this point have any idea who did it or a motive," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
The consulate is on the 9th and 10th floors of the building, the mayor said. He said he expected it would be open for business later in the day.
After piecing together the shrapnel, police determined the devices were toy grenades that had been filled with gunpowder. Officers estimated that one was the size of a pineapple; the other the size of a lemon.
No timing device was used, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
The blasts shattered a panel of glass in the building's front door and ripped a one-foot chunk from the planter. The department's bomb squad was at the scene and streets were closed in the area.
Offices of other foreign diplomatic representatives were checked as a precaution and nothing was found, Kelly said. Security videos in the area were being reviewed, he said.
In London, Britain's Foreign Office said there were no provisions for Britons to vote at overseas consulates. No further information was immediately available, the spokesman said. Calls to the British Embassy in Washington went unanswered early Thursday morning.
Britain's national elections have been dominated by anger with Prime Minister Tony Blair's support for the Iraq war.
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Date: 2005-05-05 05:34 am (UTC)Two small makeshift grenades exploded outside a Midtown Manhattan building housing the British Consulate early Thursday, Election Day in England, causing slight damage but injuring no one, officials said.
A piece of concrete was missing from a planter outside 845 Third Avenue after the explosions.
The blasts happened at 3:35 a.m.
The grenades had been placed inside a cement flower box outside the front door of the building at 845 Third Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, police spokesman Noel Waters said.
"We do not at this point have any idea who did it or a motive," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
The consulate is on the 9th and 10th floors of the building, the mayor said. He said he expected it would be open for business later in the day.
After piecing together the shrapnel, police determined the devices were toy grenades that had been filled with gunpowder. Officers estimated that one was the size of a pineapple; the other the size of a lemon.
No timing device was used, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
The blasts shattered a panel of glass in the building's front door and ripped a one-foot chunk from the planter. The department's bomb squad was at the scene and streets were closed in the area.
Offices of other foreign diplomatic representatives were checked as a precaution and nothing was found, Kelly said. Security videos in the area were being reviewed, he said.
In London, Britain's Foreign Office said there were no provisions for Britons to vote at overseas consulates. No further information was immediately available, the spokesman said. Calls to the British Embassy in Washington went unanswered early Thursday morning.
Britain's national elections have been dominated by anger with Prime Minister Tony Blair's support for the Iraq war.