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NEW YORK (CBS) - Police said an SUV found parked on 45th Street was loaded with explosives, smoking and moments from blowing up when an alert t-shirt vendor noticed something wasn't right and alerted a mounted police officer.
That officer evacuated the block and called for reinforcements, reports CBS station WCBS-TV.
"We avoided what could have been a very deadly event," New York Mayor Bloomberg said.
"Firefighters, emergency service officers and the bomb squad responded and the bomb squad confirmed that the suspicious vehicle did indeed contain an explosive device," Bloomberg said.
Packed inside the dark green Nissan Pathfinder were three propane tanks, consumer-grade fireworks, two full five-gallon gasoline containers, two clocks, some electrical wire, and a metal gun locker.
The vehicle was abandoned with its engine on and hazard lights flashing, but police don't yet know who was driving it.
"We're in the process of identifying additional cameras which may have captured images of the vehicle and more important, people seen driving or leaving the vehicle," said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Police immediately shut down Times Square, canceled Broadway shows, evacuated the Marriott Marquis, and ushered thousands of people outside the barriers.
Bloomberg said the bomb scare is another reminder that New York is a terrorist target and everyone has to be vigilant.
"Message, New Yorkers, is what we've been saying for an awful long time. Terrorists around the world who feel threatened by the freedoms that we have in this country and want to take those freedoms away from us always focus on the symbol of those freedoms, and that is New York City," Bloomberg said.
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