NEW YORK (AP) — Police evacuated buildings and cleared streets of thousands of tourists around New York City’s Times Square on Saturday after finding an apparent car bomb in a parked SUV.
New York City police said a mounted police officer noticed smoke coming from the SUV at 6:30 p.m. A law enforcement official tolds The Associated Press that bomb investigators found propane tanks, powder and an apparent timing device inside the vehicle. The official wasn’t authorized to release the information and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Times Square, known as the Crossroads of the World, is one of the busiest urban areas in the U.S. and is typically teeming with people.
Police evacuated several residential and commercial buildings and cleared several streets of thousands of tourists milling around on a warm Saturday night.
Police said the car was parked on 45th Street and the block was closed between Seventh and Eighth avenues as a precaution.
Paul Bresson, head of the FBI’s public affairs office at bureau headquarters in Washington, said agents are on the scene with the New York Police Department and that the matter is being taken seriously.
__
AP Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier contributed to this report.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.