TheCable

Police evacuated travellers from a terminal at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Sunday, following reports that gunshots were fired.

Port Authority police said they received the reports of shots fired at Terminal 8 near the departures area around 9:30 pm on Sunday.

A short time later, police said they closed Terminal 1 after there were additional reports of shots fired.

A statement from the Port Authority said early investigations had found no evidence of gunshots being fired.

The Federal Aviation Administration said there was a “full ground stop” in place on all air traffic arriving at JFK until 11.30pm.

Police said they had not confirmed whether any shots were actually fired.

They evacuated the area as a precaution.

Some flights were being diverted and Flightradar.com said delays in the region were increasing.

An expressway approaching the airport also was shut down.

Images posted on social media showed scores of people standing outside Terminal 8.

Travellers who had been evacuated from the building said police told them it was “not safe” to stay inside.

One passenger on board a plane that had landed at JFK said the aircraft was being held on the tarmac due to an “emergency”.

JFK, which has six terminals, is the busiest international air passenger gateway into the United States.

More than 50 million passengers travelled through the airport in 2014.