7 Dec 2018

Nearby bomb threat evacuates CNN headquarters

6:36 pm on 7 December 2018

The New York headquarters of the American network CNN evacuated for more than an hour after a caller said there were five bombs hidden in the Time Warner Center Building.

US police line sign

Photo: AFP

The "all clear" was given by police shortly before midnight local time after several dozen police officers searched the building floor by floor.

Nothing suspicious was found, CNN reported.

All vehicle and pedestrian traffic had been blocked by police, said New York Police Detective Hubert Reyes.

The call came in after 10 pm, and the news network briefly switched to pretaped programming, before cutting to live shots of newscasters, employees and onlookers standing behind police barricades outside the building.

The network's bureau at the Time Warner Center was evacuated in October after a package containing an explosive device, addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, was discovered.

The network was one of those targetted in October by a series of pipe bombs which were also sent to a number of high profile Democratic politicians.

- Reuters