A 17-year-old boy visiting Yellowstone National Park was seriously burned after he stepped on a piece of land near a geyser and his foot broke through the ground's thin crust, causing "significant" injury to his foot and ankle.

A teenage boy visiting Yellowstone National Park was seriously burned when his foot broke through the ground near a geyser by the infamous Old Faithful, officials said.

The teenager, a 17-year-old boy, was hiking on Monday in the thermal area near the Lone Star Geyser, which is in the same geyser basin as Old Faithful, when his foot broke through the crust, causing “significant thermal burns to his foot and ankle area,” the park service said in a statement.