Fire was raging out of control on Tuesday on the Queensborough Bridge, which links New York City's Manhattan to the Queens borough and beyond, forcing U.S. authorities to shut it down, according to DPA. Thick smoke was billowing from the bridge over the East River as fire was burning down the scaffolding erected for repairs. Local television networks said the fire was apparently started by construction material, and showed part of the lower and upper decks engulfed in fire. Traffic on both sides was stopped. The bridge links the populous Queens borough to Manhattan and is used daily by thousands of commuters. In a separate incident more than 200 kilometres to the south, police closed down two major tunnels vital to north-south traffice from Florida to Boston. The tunnels, in the port of Baltimore, Maryland, were closed after a terrorist threat was received.
