Police testing Central Park explosive compound

Authorities are now saying an explosion in New York’s Central Park on Sunday that left a Virginia tourist seriously injured was most likely an experiment gone wrong.

It is understood the teenager, a student in Florida, might have lost his foot in the explosion.

An FDNY spokesman said first responders had transported the man “with a possible amputation to his leg. …”

Later on Sunday, a swath of the park remained cordoned off as investigators from the Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were still at work.

Investigators suspect 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.

“It sounded like a cannon”, Sara Gordon told the Daily News. As they did, an explosion occurred and one of the three was injured. The victim is undergoing surgery Sunday afternoon, authorities said at an afternoon news conference.

Police said the explosive material was not a device and probably was not meant to be triggered by someone stepping on it.

The Central Park was partially closed for police investigation after the explosion rocked the southeastern part of the park, near the corner of 5th Avenue and 62th Street, Xinhua reported.

Authorities suspect that the incident, which happened around 11 a.m., involved fireworks, though the victim’s friends, who were reportedly visiting from the Washington, D.C., area, have denied carrying any, The News reported.

Evidence suggested the work of amateur hobbyists possibly experimenting with explosives during the July Fourth holiday, bomb squad commanding officer Lt. Mark Torre said.

Golden landed on the “shock-sensitive” material inside a plastic bag, setting off a large boom that echoed through the park and was heard by people attending the nearby funeral for Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel. The man suffered an injured leg and was being treated at the scene.

The NYPD’s bomb squad and police were investigating.

Initial reports said the young man was in critical but stable condition at Bellevue Hospital.

Medics took the man to a hospital for treatment.