New York Met cancels opera after ashes tipped into orchestra pit

The unidentified suspect fled the scene and no arrests have been made over the incident

Police responded to New York’s Metropolitan Opera which halted a performance after someone sprinkled an unknown powder into the orchestra pit (AP)

New York City’s Metropolitan Opera was forced to cancel a Sunday afternoon performance of Gioachino Rossini's Guillaume Tell after a member of the audience sprinkled what police believe to be cremated ashes into the orchestra pit, according to Reuters.

“An individual from out of town... indicated that he was here to sprinkle ashes of a friend, his mentor in opera, during the performance,” John Miller, deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism told reporters.

The Met Opera stated on its Facebook page that the performance was cancelled during the second intermission because of a disturbance by an audience member, in which an unindentifed substance was sprinkled into the orchestra pit.

The post also states that the evening performance of L’Italiana in Algeri was additionally cancelled while authorities investigated the incident.

There are no reports of any injuries or negative reactions triggered by the substance among the audience, though the theatre was evacuted while the New York Police Department dispatched a special unit to investigate, stated officer Tiffany Phillips.

The unidentified suspect fled the scene and no arrests have been made.