Explosion at New York’s Central Park injures man

Investigators are probing a freakish blast in New York City’s Central Park that lead to the amputation of a visiting college student’s lower leg, police said.

New York Times reporter Sarah Maslin Nir was outside the nearby funeral service for Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel when she heard the explosion.

Ryan was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and was expected to undergo surgery. Authorities say a man was seriously hurt in Central Park and people near the area reported hearing some kind of explosion.

The 18-year-old was visiting the Big Apple with friends for the Fourth of July holiday when the freak accident happened.

Emergency officials work near the scene of an explosion in Central Park on Sunday.

The victim was climbing on a rock near Fifth Avenue and East 60th Street when he stepped on something that “exploded”, a witness told CBS New York.

The late-morning explosion occurred when all three men jumped off a rock and the victim landed on top of the object, which had been stashed near the boulder out of the way of normal foot traffic, police said.

Police said they did not believe the fireworks were left intentionally to injure others. “We will provide Connor and his family with complete support through his recovery and rehabilitation”, the statement said. O’Connell said the explosive was not placed in a location “where somebody ordinarily would have stepped”, and Torre said investigators hadn’t found any evidence to show the device was a “constructive IED”.

CBS reports that the homemade gadget was likely an “explosive experiment” that was probably created to “make a large noise, maybe make a flash”, concocted by someone with a basic understanding of chemistry, says Lt. Mark Torre, commanding officer of the New York Police Department’s bomb squad.

Torre stated that with Fourth of July coming, it is normal to see different explosive experiments and homemade fireworks from the public, according to the New York Post. The park remained open to visitors following the blast.

The bomb squad said the home-made explosive required a level of chemistry to create, however the information would be readily available with an internet search.