Panic gripped New Yorkers on Friday evening after a fire at the crowded Penn Station in Manhattan.

Fire department officials said a loose electric cable, which hit the electrified third rail of the track, caused the blaze.

Police and firefighters immediately surrounded the building, on 34th Street and Seventh Avenue, and evacuated hundreds of people.

The authorities shut the Long Island Railroad Service.

Although the fire has been put out, it is not clear when the service will resume.

The incident comes amid fears of a terrorist attack that forced the authorities to post policemen at many of the City's 468 subway stations and other areas deemed vulnerable.

The New York Times said on Friday that many of these stations of the 656-mile subway system are a maze of corridors, closets and electrical cabinets, making the task of vigil all the more difficult.