Multiple injuries as car hits people in New York’s Times Square

In this photo released on twitter by Josh Silverman, police block off an intersection in Times Square near a car (background) that lost control and hit pedestrians in new York on May 18, 2017. A car struck a group of pedestrians in New York’s Times Square on, causing casualties in one of the most popular tourists spots in Manhattan, an AFP photographer said.More than 10 people appeared to have been involved in what appeared an accident, as ambulances and police cars descended on the area. / AFP PHOTO / Josh Silvermann /

A car struck pedestrians in New York’s Times Square on Thursday, causing multiple injuries in one of the most popular tourists spots in Manhattan, police and an AFP photographer said.

More than 10 people appeared to have been hurt as ambulances and police cars descended on the area, the photographer said. “Preliminarily it looks more like a vehicle accident than anything else,” a New York police spokesman told AFP.

Police confirmed only that there were “multiple injuries.”

The vehicle was on fire, the AFP photographer said. A maroon sedan vehicle lay partially upended on its side on the sidewalk with smoke and isolated flames spewing out of the hood, photographs on social media showed.

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.