Car Bomb Scares Times Square, Fails to Explode

Smoking vehicle with crude bomb doesn't detonate
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Suggested by Fondue
Posted May 2, 2010 5:54 AM CDT
Car Bomb Scares Times Square, Fails to Explode
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. David Paterson, and Speaker Christine Quinn, right hold a news conference in Times Square early Sunday, May 2, 2010 near where a car carrying a crude bomb was found.   (DAVID KARP)

Police found an "amateurish" but potentially powerful bomb that began to detonate last night but failed to explode in a smoking sport utility vehicle in Times Square. Thousands of tourists were cleared from the streets for 10 hours while the bomb was dismantled. "We avoided what could have been a very deadly event," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "It certainly could have had a pretty big fire and a decent amount of explosive impact."

Investigators removed three propane tanks, fireworks, two filled 5-gallon gasoline containers, and two clocks with batteries, electrical wire and other components from the back of the Nissan Pathfinder, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. Kelly said the explosives were consumer-grade fireworks but could have caused huge damage on a block of Broadway theaters and restaurants teeming with tourists. "I think the intent was to cause a significant ball of fire," Kelly said. (More Times Square stories.)

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