Car bomb sparks Times Square evacuation

Police found an "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb in a smoking sport utility vehicle in Times Square, then cleared the streets of thousands of tourists milling through the landmark district so they could dismantle it.

"We avoided what we could have been a very deadly event," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "It certainly could have exploded and had a pretty big fire and a decent amount of explosive impact."

Investigators removed three propane tanks, consumer-grade fireworks, two filled 5-gallon (19-litre) petrol containers, and two clocks with batteries, electrical wire and other components, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference. A black metal box resembling a gun locker was also recovered.

"I think the intent was to cause a significant ball of fire," Kelly said.

Bloomberg called the explosive device "amateurish" but potentially deadly, noting: "We are very lucky."

A white robotic police arm broke windows of the black Nissan Pathfinder to remove any explosive materials while heavily armed police and emergency vehicles shut down the city's busiest streets, teeming with taxis and theatregoers on one of the first summer-like days of the year.

"There were explosive elements, including powder, gasoline, propane and some kind of electrical wires attached to a clock," police spokesman Paul Browne said. "No motive has been identified."

A New York Fire Department officer told Reuters law enforcement officers were treating the vehicle - which was found smoking and emitting popping noises - as a "failed device".

An officer noticed smoke coming from the SUV around 6:30pm (local time) and cleared the streets.

Police are investigating a report that someone was seen running from the vehicle at some point and are reviewing security videotapes, Browne said.

The Nissan Pathfinder's license plates do not match the car's registration. Police interviewed the Connecticut car owner, who told them he had sent the plates to a nearby junkyard.

Police evacuated several residential and commercial buildings and cleared the streets of people.

Some tourists reported hearing a small explosion hours after the car was first located.

A firefighter told Reuters a "mini-explosion" occurred between 6pm and 6:3 pm local time.

"The SUV was smoking. There was a flash and we put two and two together," he said.

Shelly Carlisle, of Portland, Oregon, said police crowded into her Broadway theatre after the curtain closed on "Next to Normal," a show on the same block where the SUV was found.

"At the end of the show, the police came in. We were told we had to leave," Carlisle said. "They said there was a bomb scare."

The car was parked on 45th Street, and the block was closed between Seventh and Eighth Avenues as a precaution, police said.

FBI agents are on the scene with the New York Police Department, and the matter is being taken seriously, said Paul Bresson, head of the FBI's public affairs office at bureau headquarters in Washington.

Katy Neubauer, 46, and Becca Saunders, 39, of Milwaukee, were shopping for souvenirs two blocks south of the SUV when they saw panicked crowds.

"It was a mass of people running away from the scene," Neubauer said.

Said Saunders: "There were too many people, too many police officers. I've never seen anything like it."

In December, a van without license plates parked in Times Square led police to block off part of the area for about two hours. A police robot examined the vehicle, and clothes, racks and scarves were found inside.

And in March 2008, a hooded bicyclist hurled an explosive device at a military recruiting centre in the heart of Times Square, producing a flash, smoke and full-scale emergency response. No suspect was ever identified.

- NZHERALD STAFF, AP