Explosives found in N.J. town, authorities say

The New Jersey state police bomb squad and other law enforcement agencies found what they believed to be explosives in a car in Hammonton yesterday, authorities said.

After getting a tip about a car parked in the 300 block of North Washington Street, officers arrived about 3 p.m., said Madelaine Vitale, spokeswoman for the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. They found a package containing "potentially dangerous" explosives and evacuated neighbors in the blocks around the vehicle, she said.

Officers extracted the explosives from the car shortly before 7 p.m. and took them to an undisclosed location, where they planned to detonate them.

The Associated Press reported that the package contained five to eight pounds of homemade explosives. Vitale said she could not comment on where police believe the explosives came from. - Allison Steele