Police say a 19-year-old man suffered a severe leg injury after witnesses said he stepped on some sort of explosive in New York City’s Central Park on Sunday.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated the incident may have been a Fourth of July fireworks-related mishap, though one of the man’s friends, 20-year-old Thomas Hinds, claimed to ABC News that the explosion was “definitely not a firecracker.”
Reports said the unidentified victim suffered a possible amputation in the Sunday morning incident, which closed part of Central Park. New York’s bomb squad was investigating.
Police said witnesses saw the man step onto a rock when the explosion occurred. The blast could be heard for several blocks.
“His left foot looked severed. It was very graphic,” Sara Gordon, who was in the area at the time, told the New York Daily News. “I was running back and forth to direct the police here. It sounded like a cannon. I thought it was a Fourth of July thing.”
Tourist John Murphy, a witness who stayed with the victim until authorities arrived, said the victim “was severely injured. His left leg was severely damaged, all bone and muscle.”
New York Times reporter Sarah Nir tweeted that she heard the blast from outside Elie Wiesel’s funeral.
Outside Eli Wiesel’s funeral I heard a huge explosion just now. Running into Central Park and found a young man with his left leg blown off
— Sarah Maslin Nir (@SarahMaslinNir) July 3, 2016
There was no immediate word on the victim’s condition.
