NEW YORK: A car plowed into a crowd of pedestrians in New York’s bustling Times Square on Thursday, leaving one person dead and at least 22 others injured in what officials said was an accident.
The incident sparked instant jitters after recent deadly car-ramming attacks in London, Berlin and the French city of Nice, but officials said early evidence did not point to a terror link.
“It is believed to be an isolated incident, it remains under investigation,” New York police said on Twitter.
The vehicle was on fire as pedestrians lay on the ground and passers-by cried, according to agencies. He saw one person covered up with a white cloth.
Police directed traffic as passers-by looked on anxiously.
“Preliminarily it looks more like a vehicle accident than anything else,” a New York police spokesman said.
Famous across the world for its bright lights and advertising billboards, Times Square is typically packed with tourists and office workers. It lies in the heart of Midtown Manhattan and leads to Broadway, New York’s famed theater district.
Times Square was the scene of the most serious security alert in America’s most populous city since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
