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.