Science project stirs panic on N.Y. subway

NEW YORK (AP) — A college student has apologized for causing a scare on a subway train when his science project short-circuited and started smoking in his backpack.

Gregory Kats, 29, said the device was just a model of an elevator’s inner workings. But it frightened riders on a B train near the Seventh Avenue stop Thursday.

Kats said he tried to reassure his fellow passengers that it was a school project — not a bomb — but people scrambled for the exits nonetheless.

“They were panicking, and I realized their fear,” an apologetic Kats said.

He said he tried to disassemble the contraption on the platform even as he reassured riders, “Don’t worry. This is my science project.”

Kats was questioned by police and later released.