NEW YORK (AFP).- New York's Metropolitan Opera was evacuated mid-performance on Saturday after an audience member sprinkled a mysterious powder onto the orchestra.

The leading US opera company was in the intermission of a matinee of "Guillaume Tell" when the suspect approached the orchestra pit and dropped the substance, the Met said.

The Met informed patrons that the performance was finished as New York anti-terrorism police headed into the ornate hall in Lincoln Center.

No arrests were immediately made and there were no reports of injuries. The nature of the powder, reported on social media to be white in color, was not clear.

An audience member, Dylan Hayden, posted pictures of emergency personnel on Twitter and said that seven police vehicles rushed to the scene with a stretcher briefly taken into the hall as a precaution.

The Met said it had also canceled the evening performance of "L'Italiana in Algeri" while authorities investigate.

New York's prominent institutions are constantly on guard for potential threats in light of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the city and more recently a small bombing in the Chelsea neighborhood.

Lincoln Center systematically checks audience members for weapons or other dangerous items.


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