- Title: NY police say suspicious packages were rice cookers: seeking person of interest
- Date: 16th August 2019
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 16, 2019) (REUTERS) POLICE PICKING UP RICE COOKER, WRAPPED IN A PAPER BAG AND REMOVING IT FROM SCENE
- Embargoed: 30th August 2019 15:39
- Keywords: rice cooker police hoax
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA003ASGXLQF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Suspicious packages resembling pressure cookers were left in two Manhattan locations on Friday (August 16) disrupting traffic and prompting the evacuation of one of the city's busiest transit hubs during the morning rush hour before police deemed them harmless.
The discovery of what now appears to be rice cookers, caused authorities to clear passengers from Fulton Street subway station in Lower Manhattan, disrupting service on numerous lines.
A third appliance resembling a pressure cooker was found a short time later on the street next to a garbage can in the borough's Chelsea neighborhood.
The discoveries in both locations drew a heavy police presence and the New York Police Department's bomb squad, which investigated them and found them to be safe.
Police officials are seeking a person of interest who was captured on surveillance cameras pushing a shopping cart and placing the appliances on the sidewalk.
Officials are investigating the case as a suspected hoax.
Police posted two photographs on social media of the cookers at Fulton Street.
U.S. law enforcement have been highly responsive to pressure cookers since a pair of ethnic Chechen brothers killed three people and injured more than 200 with two homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon.
The Fulton Street station complex, close to the World Trade Center site, is served by numerous subway lines. Authorities warned of residual delays for commuters.
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