Northeastern University ‘Explosion’ Injures 1 Person

An explosion reported at Northeastern University in Boston has left one person injured, according to first responders. Boston EMS wrote on Twitter that the person was injured on campus.

The Boston Globe reported that the explosion occurred when a “suspicious package” “apparently detonated.” WHDH reported the victim is a 45-year-old man.

Officer Andre Watson, a department spokesman for Boston Police, told The Globe that the appeared to have minor injuries. The package detonated at about 7:15 p.m., Watson told the newspaper.

The Boston Police Department’s bomb squad responded to the scene, along with the Boston fire department, Watson told The Globe.

Here’s what you need to know:

FBI Says ‘Too Early to Tell’ Whether Suspicious Packages Were Terrorist Attack

7 News Boston reporter Steve Cooper wrote on Twitter that there were two suspicious packages that exploded at Holmes Hall today, September 13, 2022. He spoke with the FBI Boston, he wrote on Twitter. They told him it was too early to tell whether the explosions were part of a terrorist attack.

“Breaking: FBI Boston tells me they’re aware of 2 packages that exploded at Holmes Hall at Northeastern University tonight resulting in one injury…FBI currently coordinating with Boston Police..Sources say too early to say whether this is related to terrorism or not,” Cooper wrote.

The news station spoke with several students when they evacuated from the building.

“All of a sudden, the fire alarm started going off, which (is) pretty routine, so we didn’t think much of it, came outside to the sidewalk, and then all of a sudden, we saw that there was a lot more police and fire presence than we expected,” Susanna Maize told the news station.

“The police present immediately put up police tape and told everybody that was there to move back into the main street,” Ryan Di Corpo told WHDH. “And then, one of the ladder trucks hoisted a ladder up to the roof of the building, and a firefighter with what I believed to be was an axe, went up on top of the building.”

“We were in class, and then we saw two policemen walk through the building and then, as soon as we looked out the window, we see a firetruck with the lights on, blazing,” Jacob Isaacs told the station. “We heard that it was a suspicious package and we just kind of exited immediately and that was all that we knew.”

The Victim, a 45-Year-Old Man on Staff, Was Opening a Box or Briefcase That Exploded, According to Local News Reports

The victim was a 45-year-old man who was opening “some kind of box or briefcase” when it exploded, according to WHDH. The Boston Globe reported that the victim was a staff member, and that the package had been delivered to Holmes Hall.

“Active Incident: Multiple #BEMS units responded to Leon St. in Boston for a reported explosion,” Boston EMS wrote on Twitter. “One patient treated and transported by BLS ambulance to an area hospital. No additional information available at this time.”

The tweet was posted just before 8 p.m. “BLS” stands for “basic life support,” which is typically used to treat non-life threatening injuries.

Campus police, Northeastern University Police Department, asked that the public avoid the area around Holmes Hall in a post on Twitter.

Their post said that emergency personnel were responding to “an incident” at Holmes Hall.

An alert sent to students asked them to “please avoid the area during the investigation,” according to The Globe.

Holmes Hall is an academic building that houses academic departments including Earth and Environmental Sciences, Communication Studies and Human Services, Northeastern University wrote in a post on Four Square. The Globe reported the journalism department is one of the departments in the building.

The campus police department sent out another tweet less than two hours after the explosion, saying classes in the surrounding area were cancelled due to the “ongoing investigation.”

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