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(Image: REUTERS)

The 19-year-old holidaymaker suffered a severe injury to his left foot, cops confirmed.

New York Police Department (NYPD) are investigating the cause of the explosion at the iconic park, which attracts thousands of Brits every year.

The tourist was with two friends when the blast occurred just before 11am (local time), near East 61st Street and East Drive.

The trio were visiting from Fairfax, Virginia, New York's Daily News reported, citing unnamed sources.

A NYPD said: "He stepped on a rock or some object and there was an explosion that followed."

(Image: REUTERS)

The holidaymaker is in a critical but stable condition.

Cops revealed they are investigating whether the blast involved a firework or some other kind of explosive.

"I saw his friends standing there panicking. I saw the young man laying on the grass. His foot is all but gone," eye witness John Murphy told the newspaper.

"They said, 'We didn't have anything. He stepped on something!'"

The 53-year-old said he tried to keep the tourist conscious after the blast.

An eyewitness told local news channel CBS2 that a man was climbing a rock structure and stepped on something that “exploded".

Meanwhile, there were reports of an explosion at the Stade de France.

(Image: AFP)

There is a heavy police presence at the scene.

A bomb-sniffing dog has now gone into the rock area where the explosion happened.

New York Times reporter Sarah Maslin Nir tweeted: "Outside Eli Wiesel's funeral I heard a huge explosion just now. Running into Central Park and found a young man with his left leg blown off."

The FDNY confirmed that the man had a "partial amputation".

In the incident happened at the park near 5th Avenue and E 68th Street.

A police spokesman has said it was not yet clear what caused the blast.

The New York Daily News reports, a man identified as one of the victim's friends said: “We don’t know what happened. There was a small explosion, then dust."

It is understood the man was with two friends when he stepped on something which exploded.

They are believed to be from Washington DC.