A 19-year-old tourist suffered a severe injury to his left foot in an explosion in Central Park on Sunday (July 3), said a spokesman for the New York Police Department, which was investigating the cause of the incident.
The teen was in the park with two friends, who had also traveled to New York, when the blast occurred just before 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) near East 61st Street and East Drive, the NYPD spokesman said.
“He stepped on a rock or some object and there was an explosion that followed,” the spokesman said.
He was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Police said they were investigating whether the blast, occurring the day before the city’s Fourth of July pyrotechnics show, involved a firework or some other kind of explosive.
“We believe, this could have been put here as some sort of experiment. We will be expanding our evidence search with our vapor wake dogs to look for anything pertinent to our investigation. We will continue canvassing for additional video and witnesses who could be helpful to our investigation,” Deputy Chief John O’ Connell of the New York Police Department told reporters.
“At this time we have no evidence that this is related to terrorism,” he added.
No further information was immediately available.
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