Car bomb stops heart of New York

The heart of New York was last night shut down after a lethal car bomb was found in Times Square, sparking hysteria among thousands of tourists.

Discovery of the smoking vehicle led to the shutdown of the city's famous theatre and entertainment district for 10 hours as experts dismantled the bomb and police and the FBI started an intense manhunt.

"Everybody was running for their lives; they were totally afraid. I thought the terrorists finally got to Times Square," Okan Yildiz told the New York Post.

Earlier, a man was seen running from the scene carrying a detonator, but no terrorist group had claimed responsibility by early this morning (NZT).

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the explosives were consumer-grade fireworks but could have caused huge damage on a block of Broadway theatres and restaurants teeming with tourists.

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

Firefighters who arrived shortly after the first call heard a popping sound, and a police official said the bomb appeared to be starting to detonate but malfunctioned.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "We avoided what could have been a very deadly event."

Investigators removed from the vehicle three propane tanks, consumer-grade fireworks, two 19-litre containers filled with petrol, and two clocks with batteries, electrical wiring and other components.

A T-shirt vendor saw smoke pouring from the Nissan Pathfinder, parked on 45th St near the Broadway theatre showing The Lion King, about 7pm local time.

He alerted a nearby police officer.

"I did a lap around the vehicle. The inside was smoking," the officer, Wayne Rhatigan, told the Daily News. "I smelled gunpowder and knew it might blow. I thought it might blow any second."

He and two female officers forced hundreds of people away from the scene as they called for back-up.

A Connecticut licence plate on the Nissan came from another vehicle.

Heavily armed police shut down the city's busiest streets, teeming with taxis and theatregoers, and cleared buildings until the vehicle was removed.

Square scares:

* December 2009: A van without licence plates and with blacked-out windows parked in Times Square led police to block off part of the area for about two hours on New Year's Eve. A police robot examined the vehicle, and clothes, racks and scarves were found inside. The white van had been parked there for days. Police later said they overlooked the van because it was carrying a parking placard for a non-profit police group.

* December also: A street hustler armed with a machine pistol fired shots, shattering a Broadway theatre ticket window, before police shot and killed him.

* March 2008: A hooded cyclist hurled an explosive device at a military recruiting centre in the heart of Times Square, producing a flash, smoke - and a full-scale emergency response. The culprit was never found.

- Staff reporter and AP