New York City remains on high alert after an unexploded car bomb forced an emergency evacuation of Times Square yesterday evening.
Police defused the improvised car bomb, which was discovered in a vehicle parked near the intersection of 45th Street and Broadway.
A statement on an Islamist website has claimed the Pakistani Taliban was responsible for the attack.
However, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said there is no proof to back that claim.
Commissioner Kelly said a white man in his 40s had been identified on video footage of the area and was seen removing a dark shirt to reveal a red shirt about half a block from the vehicle.
US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the incident was being treated ‘very seriously’, but that there was no evidence that it was more than a ‘one-off event’.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said an mounted policeman spotted a box smoking in the back of a Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle shortly before 7pm (midnight Irish time) and that Times Square was evacuated soon after.
Police and fire department sources said the device was being treated as a ‘failed device’.
Police would not say whether the incident was being treated as an act of terrorism, however New York governor David Paterson said the 'full attention of city, state and federal law enforcement will be turned to bringing the guilty party to justice in this act of terrorism.'
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the incident could have been a 'deadly event'.
'We are very lucky. Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could have been a very deadly event,' Mr Bloomberg said.
Commissioner Kelly said police bomb technicians removed and dismantled three propane tanks, consumer-grade fireworks, two gasoline containers and two clocks apparently used as timers, along with electrical wire and other components in the rear of the vehicle.
The bomb was discovered in the dark green Nissan Pathfinder parked on 45th Street and Broadway with its engine running and hazard lights flashing, authorities said. It had Connecticut license plates that did not match the vehicle.
President Barack Obama commended the ‘quick action’ by New York police in dealing with the incident and said the New York Police Department had done ‘excellent work’ in responding.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the Joint Terrorism Task Force has responded along with the NYPD.
An official said the US Department of Homeland Security was aware of the situation and was monitoring developments, but declined to comment further.
Times Square was eerily empty for several blocks on the busiest night of the week on the Great White Way as tourists and theatre-goers watched from behind barricades as anti-terrorism units swarmed the scene.
Police shut down Times Square from 43rd Street to 48th Street between Sixth and Eight avenues.
