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)
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)

 

New York, NY – Police officials believe a homemade firework likely caused a blast in New York City’s Central Park that seriously injured a man who stepped on it.

The commanding officer of the New York Police Department’s bomb squad tells reporters Sunday there’s no indication it was made to harm people.

Mark Torre likened the explosive to an experiment that an enthusiast with a rudimentary understanding of chemistry could build from household materials.

Investigators don’t believe the injured 19-year-old or his friends took part in constructing the explosive. They’re asking anyone with information to come forward.

Officials say the injured man is undergoing surgery on his left foot at a hospital. He’s in stable condition.

They say police dogs are canvassing the park for possible explosives.

As reported by Vos Iz Neias