A 73-year-old man was severely burned on Friday after he opened an oatmeal container that had been left at a home in Queens and it exploded, the police said.

The man, whose name was not immediately released, had second- and third-degree burns to 80 percent of his torso and legs and was taken to Nassau University Medical Center, where he was in critical condition, Robert K. Boyce, the chief of detectives, said on Twitter.

The explosive was a “victim-actuated device,” with the explosion caused by opening the cylindrical package, Chief Boyce said. The blast, which was reported around 4:15 p.m., left behind “substantial evidence,” he said.

The explosive was in a Quaker Oats container left on the porch of a home on the 100 block of 222nd Street in the Brookville neighborhood of Queens, the police said.