Yale bomb blast not thought to be terrorism

Investigators searched a bomb-damaged classroom at prestigious Yale University’s law school in Connecticut today to determine what caused the explosion and how explosives got into the unoccupied room.

No one was injured when the bomb went off on Wednesday, but the blast knocked down a partition between the classroom and an lounge and sent smoke through the law school.

“I saw a huge fireball come out to the middle of the hallway,” said law student Bob Hoo. “It was an instantaneous blast. It was there and then it was gone.”

Authorities said they did not yet know what the bomb was made of, who set off the device or why it was put there.

Michael Wolf, special agent in charge of the FBI in Connecticut, said there were no threats made before the explosion and no claims of responsibility afterward. T

There was no indication that it was an act of international terrorism, two US intelligence officials said.

Police Chief Francisco Ortiz said investigators would be looking for anything symbolic about the blast – whether the date, room or anything else about the law school could be meaningful to the bomber.

Most Yale undergraduates had already left for the summer break but there were a number of people in the law school building, where some students took final exams.

The building also houses a day-care centre and some residences.