Two large explosions at the final stretch of the Boston
Marathon killed at least three people and injured more than 100,
sending a pall of smoke over the area and staining the sidewalks with
blood.
The blasts took place in a crowd of spectators, just feet
away from the finish line where hundreds of runners were completing the
world's oldest annual marathon. Photographs showed the area along
Boylston Street covered in injured people, with security guards and
emergency workers scrambling to give first aid.
Witnesses said
they had seen victims who had lost limbs. "There were a lot of people
down," said Frank Deruyter, who was running the marathon.
An
eight-year-old boy was among the dead. At the city's Children's Hospital
a nine-year-old girl, a seven-year-old boy, a 12-year-old and another
child aged two were among the injured, according to the Globe.
Early
on Tuesday morning the Guardian witnessed FBI investigators entering
and leaving a building in the Boston suburb of Revere, at one stage
taking away a black plastic bag. The Associated Press said Massachusetts
state police had confirmed that a search warrant related to the
investigation into the explosions was served on Monday night in Revere
but authorities provided no further details.
As many as two
unexploded bombs were also found near the end of the 26.2-mile (42km)
course as part of what appeared to be a well co-ordinated attack but
they were safely disarmed, a senior US intelligence official told the
Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The two devices that
caused the carnage had detonated without warning at about 2.50pm ET on
Tuesday, the Boston police commissioner Ed Davis told reporters at a
media briefing. Asked whether the city was under a terrorist attack, he
replied: "We're not being definitive about this right now, but you can
reach your own conclusions based on what happened."
The Reuters
news agency said the devices used gunpowder as the explosive and were
packed with ball bearings and other shrapnel to maximise injuries.
Reuters said the description came from a senior law enforcement official
briefed on the investigation who declined to be identified because of
the sensitivity of the information.
Dozens of injured people were
taken to local hospitals where some remained in a critical condition on
Monday evening. The Associated Press put the number of injured at more
than 130.
Police wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying assault
rifles guarded the main entrance of Massachusetts General Hospital on
Monday evening. Inside were 29 people injured in the blasts, including
eight who were in a critical condition and undergoing surgery. Dr
Alasdair Conn, the hospital's chief of emergency services, said at least
four of them had arrived with traumatic amputations, meaning their
limbs had been blown off.
President Obama, at a briefing at the White House,
said: "The American people will say a prayer for Boston tonight.
Michelle and I send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of
the victims in the wake of this senseless loss."
Obama said he had
spoken with the FBI director and the Department of Homeland Security,
who were co-ordinating the federal response. He stopped short of using
the word "terrorism" to describe the explosions but vowed to bring the
perpetrators to justice.
"We will find out who did this and we
will hold them accountable," he said. "Make no mistake, we will find out
who did this and why they did this, and the groups or individuals
responsible will feel the full weight of justice."
A White House
official, speaking off the record, said the attack was being treated as
an act of terrorism. But at a press conference on Monday night the FBI
special agent who has taken control of the inquiry, Rick DesLauriers,
said it was a "criminal investigation and potential terrorism
investigation".
He refused to comment on reports that a "person of
interest" was being treated at Brigham and Women's hospital in the
city. The police commissioner flatly denied reports there was a suspect
at the hospital.
Davis described the loss of life as "horrendous",
adding: "This cowardly act will not be taken in stride. We will turn
every rock over to find the people who are responsible for this."
The Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, said the city would be open on Tuesday "but it will not be business as usual".
The aftermath of the attack on the Boston Marathon. Photograph: Boston Globe/Getty Images
The blasts came at the climax of what should have
been a day of great celebration for Boston and for marathon runners from
around the world. The 26.2-mile race, which started in 1897 and is one
of six World Marathon Majors, has almost 27,000 participants and
attracts up to 500,000 spectators, making it a massive security
operation for the local authorities.
The event takes place on
Patriots' Day, a Massachusetts state holiday to mark the first battles
of the revolutionary war against Britain. Monday is also "Tax Day" in
the US, the deadline for individuals to file their tax returns.
After
the explosions the city went into high alert. All off-duty police
officers were brought back on the job and told that a maximum alert
would remain indefinitely. Tests and controlled explosions were carried
out on scores of parcels and backpacks that had been left strewn along
the parade line in the panic that followed the blasts.
Police and runners react following two explosions at the Boston
Marathon finish area. Photograph: MetroWest Daily News/Ken
McGagh/Reuters
A no-fly zone was imposed in the immediate zone of
the incidents and flights into local airports were suspended briefly.
Boston residents and visitors to the marathon were advised to return
home or stay in their hotel rooms, and to avoid congregating in public
spaces. "People should be calm but they should understand this is an
ongoing event," the police chief said.
'A loud boom ... then glass everywhere'
Wounded
people were taken to the medical tent that had originally been set up
to treat weary runners. One of the victims included a Boston police
officer seen being wheeled away from the scene with a bleeding leg.
Cherie Falgoust, who was waiting for her husband to finish the race,
said: "I was expecting my husband any minute. I don't know what this
building is … it just blew. Just a big bomb, a loud boom, and then glass
everywhere. Something hit my head. I don't know what it was. I just
ducked."
Dennis Crowley, the founder of social media company
Foursquare, was running in the race. He used Twitter to reassure family
and friends that he was safe. His cousin witnessed the explosion and was
"shaken but OK. FYI no one at mi 26 has any idea what's happening," he
tweeted.
Crowley said cell phone service had been swamped by
worried callers, mobile batteries were running out and runners were
struggling to get through to their friends and relatives.
Doctors
treating the 29 patients brought to Massachusetts General Hospital after
Monday's blasts were seeing "a lot of shrapnel injuries", said Peter
Fagenholz, a trauma surgeon.
Many of the most seriously wounded
had sustained damage to their lower limbs, he said. Several of the
patients had traumatic amputations and at least one patient had a
shattered eardrum, Fagenholz said.
It was too early to say "how
everybody is going to do" and a number of the patients would need
repeated surgery in the coming days. Fagenholz added: "They're pretty
brave, you know? It's a terrible thing and most patients' attitude is
just 'Do what you have to do and try to make me better.'"
A
spokesman for the White House said the administration was in contact
with state and local authorities, with White House officials instructed
to provide whatever assistance was necessary in the investigation and
response.
Security was stepped up in New York City, with the
NYPD's critical response vehicles being deployed, though it was not
clear whether the move was a routine precaution or based on any specific
intelligence.
In Boston there were accounts that the windows of a
local restaurant were blown out. Security was stepped up in hotels and
public buildings throughout the city.
Chris Cassidy, a reporter with the Boston Herald who was taking part
in the marathon, said he saw two explosions, accompanied by a loud bang
and then smoke rising. "I kept running and I heard behind me a loud
bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something. That one was in
front of Abe and Louie's. There are people who have been hit with
debris, people with bloody foreheads."
Among the injured was Dean
Smith, who had been standing close to the second blast site to watch his
27-year-old son finish the race. Both he and his son suffered minor
injuries. "It felt like it was right there," he told the Guardian as he
left hospital on Monday night, pointing to his car two feet away. "It
was really close. My wife said I flew five feet."
Smith sustained a
minor shrapnel wound to his right calf. His back was also injured and
both his eardrums burst, he said. His son was expected to make a full
recovery, he added.
Shaan Gandhi, a medical student at
Massachusetts General Hospital, said the hospital was working flat out
to take care of the injured. "It's supposed to be a really happy day,"
he said. "It's supposed to be a really quiet day and then this all
happens."
He said he had seen a patient with severe leg injuries. "We were just trying to stop the bleeding as much as possible and try to save his life," Gandhi said. "I've never seen something like this."
He said he had seen a patient with severe leg injuries. "We were just trying to stop the bleeding as much as possible and try to save his life," Gandhi said. "I've never seen something like this."
This year's Boston Marathon, the 177th annual race in the
city, was being staged in commemoration of the Newtown school shooting,
in which 20 young children and six educators were killed in December.
The finishing mile was dedicated to the victims of Newtown.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment