New York probes 'gas-like odour'

Maybe a coincidence but i noticed that our drinking water had a foul smell to it last night. I think i will switch to bottled for the time being.



Authorities in New York are investigating a persistent gas smell across a large part of lower Manhattan.
Police said they were dealing with many reports of a strange gas-like smell, but stressed it was not thought likely to be harmful.

A stretch of the commuter train service between New York and New Jersey was suspended, and some Manhattan office buildings were evacuated.

The mayor of New York is expected to make a statement on the situation.

The US Department of Homeland Security said there was no suspicion of any link to terrorism.

Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, officials said the source of the smell was a gas leak originating in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, but that could not immediately be confirmed.

"We are getting several calls of a foul odour. Our units are responding. It's in various parts of the city," a police spokesman said.

The BBC's Jeremy Cooke, in New York, said the odour smelled like car fumes.

Gas supplier Consolidated Edison, which pipes gas into much of New York City, said it was investigating the reports, but told US TV network MSNBC that there was "no abnormal flow" of gas in Manhattan.

There was a previous report of a gas-like smell in August last year in parts of Queens and Staten Island, the Associated Press news agency said.

[/q]