Service resuming after 7 New York City subway lines stopped

About a third of New York City's subway lines were suspended for more than an hour during a busy, hot Friday evening commute, stranding some passengers underground and sending others searching for other ways home.

The stoppage affected the No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 trains that serve swaths of Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn. It also halted the S shuttle train that links Grand Central Terminal and Times Square — two of the city's busiest stations.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority warned that there would still be "extensive delays" in the system, which serves more than 5 million people per day, even after service began to resume Friday night. It blamed the suspension on a network communications problem.

In this photo provided by Kenneth Ferrone, a digital sign on a New York City subway platform warns commuters of a service disruption on several lines, Friday, July 19, 2019, in New York. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says that the agency is working to resolve the issue affecting the Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 trains as well as the S shuttle train that links Grand Central Terminal and Times Square. It blames the suspension on a network communications problem. (Kenneth Ferrone via AP)

The temperatures was still 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius) on Friday evening when the stoppage happened, though meteorologists estimated that it felt like 100 degrees, leaving riders sweating in stopped trains with doors closed. The breakdown came as the city gears up for scorching temperatures throughout the weekend.

MTA officials were not able to immediately determine the cause of the breakdown, which started at about 6 p.m.

The state agency that runs the city's subway system urged passengers to remain in train cars while crews work as quickly as possible to bring people into stations.

At the World Trade Center No. 1 line station, a clerk issued refund tickets and directed people to other nearby lines. Passengers — many of them visitors to New York — seemed to take the developments in stride.

"It's about what I expected," said Derek Lloyd, who's from Hanover, Massachusetts, near Boston and its transit system. "I don't know that ours is much better," he said with a smile.

On one line that was running, passengers packed into one car that didn't appear to have air conditioning. Sweat glistened on riders' skin as they sought relief, fanning themselves and one another.

One woman noted, "This is dangerous."

It was the second time in the past week that New York subway riders got stuck underground. Last Saturday, a power outage that stretched across 30 Manhattan blocks from the Upper West Side to Times Square left passengers stranded till trains were manually moved into stations and doors opened. The outage was blamed on a system that failed to isolate a faulty distribution cable.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.

The Houthis described the downing as happening Thursday over their stronghold in the country's Saada province.

Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi's slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”

The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.

Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting Thursday's shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.

Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.

The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in the last months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the last week.

A Houthi supporter raises a mock rocket during a rally against the U.S. and Israel and to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, April. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)