Watch: Graphic Video of NYC Tourist Getting His Leg Blown Off in Central Park Explosion
In a type of accident that is sadly all too common over 4th of July weekend, an 18-year-old man named Connor Golden was rushed to a hospital after blowing off part of his leg on a firecracker. The explosion occurred just blocks away from the funeral service for Pulitzer Prize winning author, and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel.
NYPD Deputy Chief John O'Connell said at a press conference following the explosion that there was "no evidence that (the explosion) was related to terrorism" and that there had been "no credible threats against New York."
Golden was reportedly climbing on rocks in Manhattan’s Central Park when the explosion went off. The Virginia native was treated my emergency responders by the scene and then taken to nearby Bellevue Hospital where he is in stable condition.
One witness, John Murphy, told New York Daily News, "I saw his friends standing there panicking. I saw the young man laying on the grass. His foot is all but gone. His friends claimed he was walking down the rocks and he stepped on it. It looks like there was an explosion,” he said.
Hopefully Golden makes a speedy recovery.