Man Injured in Central Park Stepped on Explosive, Witness Says

A man, center bottom, bleeds from his injured leg as he gets helped from paramedics, firemen, and police in Central Park in New York, Sunday, July 3, 2016. Police and emergency responders took the man on a stretcher from New York’s Central Park after people near the area reported hearing some kind of explosion. Fire officials say it happened shortly before 11 a.m., inside the park at 68th Street and Fifth Avenue. Authorities say the man suffered serious injuries and was taken to the hospital. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

NEW YORK  — A 19-year-old man suffered a serious injury to his left foot in Central Park on Sunday, police said, and the man's friends told authorities he stepped on something that exploded.

Authorities said the man was in the park at about 11 a.m. Police said witnesses told them the man had just stepped onto a rock when an explosion occurred. People in the area said an explosion was heard blocks away.

"It sounded like a cannon," Sara Gordon told the Daily News. "I thought it was a Fourth of July thing."

A injured man is carried to an ambulance in Central Park in New York, Sunday, July 3, 2016. Authorities say a man was seriously hurt in Central Park and people near the area reported hearing some kind of explosion. Fire officials say it happened shortly before 11 a.m., inside the park at 68th Street and Fifth Avenue. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)