After two manholes caught fire, police and fire officials were forced to close a portion of Times Square on Sunday evening.
The explosion occurred around 6:45 p.m. on April 10 on West 43rd Street near Seventh Avenue. One manhole cover was part of the explosion, while a second manhole was seen smoking.
According to Karl-Erik Stromsta, a spokesperson for Con Edison, an energy provider, the explosion was caused by a power cable failure. Firefighters acted quickly after the explosion and contained the fire.
“We can confirm that a manhole exploded in the Times Square area this evening due to cable failure, and another manhole was smoking,” Con Edison said in a statement released late Sunday. “At this time, there have been no customer outages and no reports of injuries or property damage. Our crews remain on location.”
One woman visiting from California was walking nearby when the explosion occurred.
The explosion was “loud, loud,” said Thalia Perez, adding, “I mean, I’m still kind of nervous and shaking.”
After the explosion, firefighters evacuated the area and searched for elevated carbon monoxide levels, which they found in one office building at 229 W. 43rd Street. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) mitigated the building’s cellar and sub-cellar.
Although crowds of tourists and locals were seen fleeing the area, there were no reported injuries from the incident.
