At least 16 people were injured in an incident involving gunfire and smoke on Tuesday in the Brooklyn borough of New York, according to initial reports from the police and fire department.

Eight of them suffered gunshot wounds, US media reported on Tuesday, citing the New York Fire Department.

Videos showed people pouring out of a subway car at the 36th Street station in the Sunset Park neighborhood surrounded by clouds of fog or smoke, some lying on the ground, blood was seen, others tended to the injured .

The exact background was initially unclear.

Shortly after the incident, in the middle of the morning rush hour, the New York police announced via Twitter that there were no active explosive devices in the subway station.

At the same time, she urged people to avoid the area around the station.

A perpetrator was not initially caught, there were reports that a man with a kind of gas mask and orange clothes was wanted.

There were numerous delays and failures in the subway system.

Schools in the area around the station are temporarily closed, US media quoted a spokesman for the New York school system as saying.

Only school children are allowed in, but no one else and no one out.

The Sunset Park neighborhood used to be primarily industrial, but today many young people and families also live and work there.

There is also a New York Nets basketball training facility around the corner.

Schumer: "I pray for all victims, their families, all those affected"

US President Joe Biden was immediately informed of the incident.

Senior White House officials are in contact with New York Mayor Eric Adams and police leadership, Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Twitter.

The federal government stands ready to provide the New York authorities with any assistance they may need.

Mayor Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul also said they would be kept informed of current events.

Chuck Schumer, the US Senate Majority Leader, wrote on Twitter that he was following the situation "in our beloved Brooklyn" very closely.

"I pray for all victims, their families, all those affected," he wrote.

Schumer thanked the assistants for their quick action.

The senator urged citizens to take good care of themselves.

"To everyone in New York: Stay safe," he wrote.

Numerous shootings and other crimes have made headlines in New York in recent months.

Mayor Adams, a former police officer who took office earlier this year, had promised to crack down on it.