New York police defuse Times Square bomb

New York police are investigating a failed terror attack in Times Square after defusing an “amateurish” but potentially powerful car bomb last night.

Thousands of tourists were evacuated from the square and the surrounding streets as officers moved in to dismantle the device, which was discovered in a smoking vehicle at around 6.30pm (22.30 GMT) yesterday.

“We are very lucky. Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could have been a very deadly event,” the city’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said. “It certainly could have exploded and had a pretty big fire and a decent amount of explosive impact.”

The homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, said officials were treating the incident as a potential terrorist attack.

Police removed three propane tanks, consumer-grade fireworks, two full 19-litre petrol containers, and two clocks with batteries, electrical wire and other components, said commissioner Raymond Kelly.

Officers are reviewing surveillance footage and seeking further video footage from office buildings that were not open at the time.

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