NYPD Evacuate Times Square over Bomb Threat

A deserted Times Square on a warm Saturday evening after a possible bomb led to the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers from the area. Photo by BGNES

New York City police have neutralized a car bomb parked in one of the city's busiest tourist attractions – Times Square, BBC reports Sunday, citing local officials.

Propane tanks, fireworks, petrol, a clock device, and metal box, resembling a gun locker, were removed from a parked Nissan Pathfinder sports utility vehicle, which had its engine running and hazard lights flashing, officials said. The NYPD sealed off several blocks of Times Square and the subway, while a robotic arm broke windows of the vehicle.

Police were alerted by a Vietnamese-born street vendor who saw smoke coming from a Nissan on 45th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues at about 6:30 pm Saturday.

The authorities have established that the car's registration plates do not match up with the Nissan and belonged to a car owner in the state of Connecticut, who says he had sent the plates to a junkyard.

FBI agents have joined NYPD investigators at the scene.

New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, praised both the vendor and the quick response of the New York Police Department. Bloomberg further said the bomb looked home made and done by an amateur, but nevertheless, it could have exploded and is a "reminder of the dangers that we face".

The New York City Police Department is on constant alert after the 9/11, 2001 attacks and a series of alleged terror plots over the last years.

The White House said President Obama was informed and is being kept up to date on the investigation.

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