posted (Reuters) - A car bomb defused in New York's Times Square was a potential terrorist attack, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Sunday, while officials held off identifying who may be responsible.
U.S.
Police, tipped off by a street vendor, found the crude but powerful bomb in a sport utility vehicle when the entertainment and shopping area of Midtown Manhattan was packed with tourists and theater-goers on a warm Saturday evening.
"We're taking this very seriously," Napolitano told CNN's "State of the Union" program. "We're treating it as if it could be a potential terrorist attack."
Napolitano and other officials have not said whether the suspects could be Americans or foreigners. No claim of responsibility has been made public and police have said no motive or suspect has been identified.
Authorities said the bomb -- made of propane, gasoline and fireworks -- could have killed many people. Times Square was evacuated on Saturday evening and largely reopened to vehicles and pedestrians just after 5 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Sunday.
Bloomberg said a T-shirt vendor noticed "an unoccupied suspicious vehicle" and alerted a police officer on horseback, who saw the dark-green Nissan Pathfinder had smoke coming from vents near the back seat and smelled of gun powder.
The bomb was found around 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Saturday inside the vehicle parked on 45th Street and Broadway with its engine running and hazard lights flashing, officials said. It had Connecticut license plates that were from another vehicle.
The bomb squad removed and dismantled three propane tanks, consumer grade fireworks, two filled five-gallon (19-liter) gasoline containers, two clocks, batteries in each of the clocks, electrical wire and other components.
A locked metal box resembling a gun locker was also removed and taken to a safe location to be detonated.
The vehicle was removed from Times Square about 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) and was being examined by forensics experts.
posted
another bomb "found" before it explodes in Pittsburgh.
hmmmmmmmmmm........
CashCowMoo
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Do you ever wonder if something like this...how it works out so perfectly could be a move by the govt to build confidence from the citizens? I wonder how much fabrication is done or if any at all.
glassman
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quote:Originally posted by CashCowMoo: Do you ever wonder if something like this...how it works out so perfectly could be a move by the govt to build confidence from the citizens? I wonder how much fabrication is done or if any at all.
of course i do, but i also consider that oil co's would have an interest as well.. i alos consider that sometimes they are the same thing too.
the oil co's would like th enews cycle to "flow away" from the spill, AND terrosims is good for their bottom line whether it's here or in the mideast
sounds like they got the guy on camera and he's a 40 yr old teabagger er uh i mean white man
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