Silver bag filled with 1000 condoms sparks bomb scare in New York bus station

Sniffer dogs were called to investigate

The condoms sparked a bomb scare at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Manhattan on Friday, 30 January (Port Authority Police)

Police in New York have responded to reports of a bomb scare at a bus terminal – only to discover that an unattended bag actually contained around 1,000 condoms for men and women.

Officers were alerted to the mysterious silver holdall at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station on Friday evening, seemingly stashed away behind a concrete barrier.

The Port Authority police called in a sniffer dog unit and specially-trained explosives officers to investigate, shutting off the station’s nearby waiting room.

But an inspection didn’t throw up any evidence of explosives, said Port Authority police spokesman Joseph Pentangelo.

Opening it up, officers found roughly 1,000 unused, individually-packed condoms for both men and women and of various different brands and styles.

It took police around 10 minutes to establish that rather than being a bomb, the bag was most likely left behind by a travelling sexual health worker.

“At this time nobody has claimed it,” a spokesperson said. “We don’t think it was linked to anything suspicious. It could have just been someone passing through.”