A college student visiting NYC for the holiday weekend had his foot blown off in an apparent firework-related incident in Central Park yesterday. Victim Connor Golden, 18, was climbing on rocks in the park near E. 60th Street and Fifth Avenue around 11 a.m. Sunday when he stepped on what police believe was a homemade firecracker.

“His foot was mutilated,” Thomas Hinds, who is visiting town with Golden, told the Post. "I was walking in front of him and suddenly heard this extremely loud explosion directly behind me. When I turned around, I saw Connor lying there, his foot completely gone. It was insane. He was moaning and saying, 'Get help.'"

Golden, Hinds and their other friend Matthew Stabile were all high school friends who arrived in the city from Virginia Saturday night. They were planning on slacklining between some trees in the park Sunday when the explosion happened. Golden was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he underwent surgery on his foot and is currently in stable condition.

Cops initially believed the trio might have been trying to set off fireworks themselves when the incident occurred, but they ruled them out as suspects after a long interrogation. “It’s ridiculous. [They were] asking me questions for two hours,” Hinds told the Post. “They want us to admit that we were playing with fireworks, but we really weren’t. We didn’t have anything on us explosive at all. But I know how it goes. If it was just us f-king around with fireworks, it would be a lot easier for them. But it’s not. And that’s actually really scary. Why would we do that?!"

The NYPD’s Bomb Squad (plus bomb-sniffing dogs) investigated the park as well, ruling out any terrorism connections. They concluded that the device was a "shock-sensitive" explosive inside of a black plastic bag. A wet matchbook was also found nearby the scene, leading them to believe that someone tried to set it off sometime this weekend, leaving it behind when it didn’t work. “There is some forensic evidence that indicates that it was not meant go off by someone stepping on it,” Lt. Mark Torre, head of the NYPD Bomb Squad, said. “It was there longer than a day.”

“It is not unusual for the public to make or try to create homemade fireworks around the Fourth of July,” Torre added. "This is a time of a year where typically we will see a lot of experimentation — explosive experimenters, if you will. Their goal is to make a loud noise, maybe make a flash. They like to make noise and sort of play with fireworks, and it’s even better if they can make their own."

Mayor de Blasio also tweeted about the incident to assuage fears around the park: