Times Square shut due to SUV with explosives

New York Citys Times Square was evacuated and cordoned off Saturday night after emergency personnel deemed a dark-coloured SUV in the area to be "suspicious."

An emergency call reporting a car fire at 6:30 p.m. led to the discovery of the SUV, following which a police bomb squad was summoned.

Officers cleared the area of pedestrians and blocked several streets leading into it at about 8 p.m. ET.

A New York Fire Department officer told the Reuters news agency that the SUV had gasoline, propane, burned wires and explosives in it. The firefighter was not authorized to speak to the media and did not give his name.