Boy aged EIGHT among AT LEAST three dead in Boston Marathon bombings that have left another 141 injured:
Police hunt for man in black as badly burned 'suspect' is held in hospital
At least three people confirmed dead and 141 people injured - with up to a eight critically ill - 14 in a serious condition - many amputations reported by city hospitalsHospitals reporting they were removing ball bearings from victims
By Beth Stebner, Thomas Durante and James Nye 15 April 2013
dailymail.co.uk
Police confirmed that at least three people lost their lives in today's deadly Boston Marathon bomb attack - leaving behind a scene of carnage and bringing the specter of terrorism back to American soil.
The FBI, which has taken over the investigation into the outrage which has also injured 141 people announced that they were searching for a man they described as having dark skin, wearing black clothes and a black back-pack who tried to gain entry into a restricted area during the marathon.
It was also reported that he may have had a foreign accent.
And with the victims reportedly ranging from two-years-old to 63-years-old, hospitals across Boston have said that they were removing ball bearings from a large number of the 141 injured in the bomb blasts.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
 This image shows the two separate explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon
 Police officers with their guns drawn hear the second explosion down the street. The first explosion knocked down a runner at the finish line
 A second explosion goes off (rear) as a runner was blown to the ground by the first explosion
 Runners continue to run towards the finish line of the Boston Marathon as an explosion erupts near the finish line of the race
 Members of the armed forces present at the Boston Marathon rush to help those stricken by the bomb attack today at the finish line
Initially counter-terrorism sources in the city believed that seven devices were planted across the city - but only two detonated.
However, a law-enforcement official said late on Monday evening that investigators now doubt those devices were bombs, but were in fact suspect packages.
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Earlier law enforcement in the city said that they found what they believed were five additional, undetonated explosive devices around the Boston area.
The additional devices were uncovered as police frantically inspected all suspicious packages, many left behind as runners and pedestrians rushed away from the scene in the aftermath of the blasts.
 A man comforts an injured woman on the sidewalk at the scene of the first explosion on Boylston Street near the finish line of the Boston Marathon
 An injured person is helped on the sidewalk near the Boston Marathon finish line following Monday's two bomb blasts
 Carnage: Injured people and debris lie on the sidewalk near the Boston Marathon finish line
Each device or package was rendered inoperative or was being rendered safe according to officials - who said that the fast moving investigation meant that every suspicious device thought to be a bomb might not be.
This afternoon at least two people have been killed and up to 141 people have been injured as two bombs exploded almost simultaneously near the finish line of the Boston Marathon today.
It was revealed that an eight-year-old boy was one of the two people confirmed dead - after the twin detonations 12 seconds apart ripped through the cheering crowds lining Boston's streets at around 2.50 p.m.
Witnesses reported scenes of utter 'pandemonium' in the seconds after the devices exploded on Boston's Boylston Street sending thousands of runners and spectators running for cover as emergency workers rushed to aid those hurt.
Authorities have said that a total of five devices were deployed in the city this afternoon, including the two which detonated.
Police officials have said that they discovered a device at St. James and Trinity Streets that did not explode, while two other explosive devices were found near to Copley Square Hotel and one in Newton which is just outside of Boston.
 Horrific Injuries: Medical workers aid an injured man at the 2013 Boston Marathon who screams out in pain
 Bystanders help stem the bleeding of an injured woman at the scene of the first explosion on Boylston Street near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon today
 Passersby help an injured man on the sidewalk near Marathon Sports after two explosions almost simultaneously went off near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon today
 Heroes: Emergency personnel rush an injured girl away from the scene after two explosions went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon today killing two and injuring over 100
This evening, it has been reported that a potential suspect in the attacks is being guarded by police in an undisclosed hospital.
Several reports now say a suspect is being guarded in a Boston hospital bed. One initial report said he was a Saudi Arabian national.
The reports claim the hospitalized suspect was himself injured by shrapnel from the finish line explosions and has severe injuries.
CBS reported that an individual is in custody. He is reportedly cooperative and denies involvement in the attack.
He reiterated that many people were injured, 'some gravely' and remarked that on days like today, 'there are no Republicans or Democrats,' emphasizing that it is crucial not to categorize the bombings as terrorist attacks.
He made clear that the 'full weight of justice' would be brought down upon those responsible. 'We will find out who did this and hold them accountable,' he said.
Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis had said at an afternoon press conference that there was a third, uncontrolled explosion at the JFK Library which was believed to be an electrical fire.
However, any link to the earlier bombs at the marathon finish line has been ruled out.
Eyewitnesses at the finishing line on Boylston Street said there were two loud explosions about ten seconds apart, and emergency vehicles crowded the scene.
Witness Dave Weigel said via Twitter minutes after the explosion: ‘I saw people’s legs blown off. Horrific. Two explosions. Runners were coming in and saw unspeakable horror.'
The explosions ripped into an idyllic afternoon finish for the marathon. The first men had passed the finish line 2 hours and 10 minutes after the staggered start, and the first women crossed just 16 minutes later.
It appears the bombs were left for the slower, charity runners grappling with a four-hour run time who were converging on the race’s end at 2:50 p.m
Police were keen to underline there had been no arrests but they did say they were talking to suspects.
There was another individual pictured in handcuffs near to the scene but it wasn't clear whether it was an unrelated arrest or not.
The first blast sent a quick plume of smoke two stories high. Runners nearby stopped in their tracks, confused and unsure. After a few seconds later, a second explosion happened a half-block away, with a deep boom caught on television cameras.
Emergency personnel rushed to the area, and the street was quickly sealed off.
'I saw it go off and smoke billowed up. Everyone just stopped and hunched down,' said Pam Ledtke, 51, from Indianapolis, who was about 75 yards from the finish line when the explosions went off.
'They didn’t know what to do,' Ledtke said.
'All of a sudden, people were screaming,' Ledtke added.
 Anguish: Medical workers aid an injured woman at the finish line of the Boston Marathon following two almost simultaneous detonations today
Nickilynn Estologa, a nursing student who was volunteering in a block-long medical tent designed to treat fatigued runners, said five to six victims immediately staggered inside. Several were children; one was in his 60s.
'Some were bleeding from the head, they had glass shards in their skin,’ she said.
'One person had the flesh gone from his leg; it was just hanging there.’ Another woman, she added, was lying on a gurney as emergency personnel raced through the tent, giving her CPR.
'I just can’t believe anyone would do something like this,’ Estologa said.
'I saw two explosions,' reported Boston Herald journalist Chris Cassidy, who was running in the marathon.
'The first one was beyond the finish line. I heard a loud bang and I saw smoke rising.'
 Walking Wounded: A man staggers away from the scene of the explosions at the 2013 Boston Marathon in Boston, today
The blast 'looked like it was in a trash can or something,' he said. 'There are at least a dozen that seem to be injured in some way.'
Police established a crime scene around the Prudential Center, which is near the finish line. The blast apparently occurred about 300 yards from the finish line.
Authorities in New York and Washington tightened security precautions in the wake of the blasts. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent all of its bomb technicians, explosives officers, explosives specialists and canine officers from their Boston and New York field divisions to the scene, as well as some investigators from Washington.
Hours after twin explosions rang out near the city's Copley Square, President Obama appeared before the nation to tell them, 'We still don't know who did this or why they did this,' vowing that Americans stand by those affected.
A White House official called the explosions an 'act of terror,' saying authorities have much to learn about who was behind it.
'Any event with multiple explosive devices — as this appears to be — is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
'However, we don’t yet know who carried out this attack, and a thorough investigation will have to determine whether it was planned and carried out by a terrorist group, foreign or domestic.'
 Terror: An injured individual near the finish line of the Boston Marathon is rushed away from the scene on a stretcher today
Witnesses described a chaotic scene in the immediate aftermath of the blasts.
Paul Cummings, a 44-year-old runner from Portland, Oregon, was in the medical tent near the finish line getting a leg massage when the explosions occurred.
'It didn’t sound like a water main blowing or anything else — it sounded like a bomb,' Cummings said.
'Maybe I watch too much TV or something, but as soon as I heard it, I knew it was a bomb. It was just a loud explosion, and then another. You can’t hear a noise like that and think anything good happened.'
As police started bringing wounded people into the tent, Cummings quickly got up and left. “I just thought, ‘I’m out of here.’ ”
He stepped out into Copley Square to wailing sirens, people shouting and crying and police imploring the crowds to leave the area.
Jay Hartford, 46, a nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital, was about 800 yards from the finish when he heard the explosions. He thought they were electrical and kept running.
Then he saw smoke billowing across Boylston Street. Runners started to panic, he said.
'Some people hit the ground, in shock'” he said. 'A woman [runner] was on her knees screaming' in fear, not injury.
Police along the route started pushing barriers across Boylston, to keep runners from approaching the finish line, he said.
'Stop, turn back!' the police shouted to oncoming runners, Hartford said.
 Helping Hands: An injured man lays on the ground following the explosions
 Horrific Scene: The aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday evening in the city
 A handcuffed suspect is surrounded by police officers following a search of the Boston Common area located about a mile from the Boston Marathon finish line
Hartford became choked up at the enormity of this calamity befalling one of Boston’s most beloved traditions.
'It was going to be my best marathon, but I feel I’ve got to get to work' at the hospital, Hartford said.
Boston.com sports producer Steve Silva also was near the finish line when the explosions occurred.
'It was just immediately [evident] there were injuries, right in the middle of the spectator crowds,' Silva said.
'There was blood everywhere, there were victims being carried out on stretchers. I saw someone lose their leg. People are crying. People are confused.'
An hour after the 2:50 p.m. blasts in Boston's Copley Square marred the usually joyous end to the marathon, a fire erupted at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library three miles away, but no one was injured, police said.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told a news conference the authorities were not certain whether the fire, possibly started by an incendiary device, was related.
Two high-level U.S. law enforcement officials said one or more bombs caused the explosions at the scene of the marathon, which is run annually on the state holiday Patriots' Day.
The two explosions were about 50 to 100 yards (meters) apart as runners crossed the finish line with a timer showing 4 hours and 9 minutes, some 9 minutes faster than the average finish time, as reported by Runner's World magazine.
 A Boston police officer wheels in injured boy down Boylston Street as medical workers carry an injured runner
Of the 23,326 runners who started the race on Monday, 17,584 finished before the blast, marathon officials said. The runners were diverted before officials brought the marathon to a halt.
Mike Mitchell of Vancouver, Canada, a runner who had finished the race, said he was looking back at the finish line and saw a 'massive explosion.'
Smoke rose 50 feet in the air, Mitchell said. People began running and screaming after hearing the noise, Mitchell said.
'Everybody freaked out,' Mitchell said.
'Every asset of the Commonwealth (state) of Massachusetts and the federal government is either here or coming here,' Governor Deval Patrick told reporters.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, Justice Department, Homeland Security Department and other agencies were all lending assistance to the investigation, authorities said.
Obama directed his administration to provide whatever assistance was necessary, the White House said. Obama was being briefed by Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco and other staff, the White House said.
Spectators typically line the 26.2 mile race course, with the heaviest crowds near the finish line.
The transit agency shut down all service to the area, citing police activity, and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted airspace over the scene, a spokesman said.
The Boston Marathon has been held on Patriot's Day, the third Monday of April, since 1897. The event, which starts in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ends in Boston's Copley Square, attracts an estimated half-million spectators and some 20,000 participants every year.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra cancelled Monday night's concert and the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins canceled their home game against the Ottawa Senators.
CBS News reports that police are now looking at surveillance video showing someone carrying multiple backpacks into the area about 20 minutes before explosions. Additionally, a shadowy figure was captured on CCTV around 20 minutes before the two blasts.
One witness said 'there was blood everywhere.'
CNN revealed that families from last December's Newtown tragedy were at the scene, though none of them were reported injured.
Boston’s Lenox Hotel that serves as the headquarters for the Boston Marathon was locked down on Monday after a security incident near the finish line. Two blasts were heard by reporters in the media center.
 Map of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, locates the area near the Boston Marathon finish line where two explosions erupted about five hours after the race began
 A Twitter user posted this picture of JFK Library after an explosive device detonated; the police commissioner said that no injuries had been reported
Authorities closed off the finish line and urged anyone in the area to stay away from trash bins.
In response to the attacks, both the White House and New York's Times Square were given extra security measures. The White House released in a statement that President Obama received a briefing from Homeland Security advisor Lisa Monaco and other members of his staff in the Oval Office.
'The president called Boston Mayor Tom Menino and expressed his concern for those who were injured and to make clear that his administration is ready to provide needed support as they respond to this incident.'
Andrea Storer, who witnessed the blast, told the Boston Globe: 'It was huge. There had to be people killed. There had to be'
NECN reporter Jackie Bruno posted on Twitter: 'I saw people's legs blown off. Horrific. Two explosions. Runners were coming in and saw unspeakable horror.
Cherie Falgoust was waiting for her husband, who was running the race.
 Medical workers aid injured people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following the two explosions
'I was expecting my husband any minute," she said. "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."
President Barack Obama was notified immediately about the explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Vice President Joe Biden was on a conference call with gun control activists when staffers turned on televisions in his office Monday to view coverage of the explosions. Biden said during the call that his prayers were with those who suffered injuries.
Vice President Joe Biden has released a statement regarding the Boston Marathon bombings.
 A person who was injured in an explosion near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon is taken away from the scene on a stretcher
 A woman on the ground is covered in dirt and blood and looks on in shock as she is surrounded by a scene of carnage
State and local officials told CNN's John King that there was no known credible threat prior to the explosions.
The marathon said in a statement: 'There were two bombs that exploded near the finish line in today's Boston Marathon. We are working with law enforcement to understand what exactly has happened.'
Competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the chaos. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners. A man was pictured with his lower leg blown off with his tibia and fibula exposed.
As people wailed in agony, bloody spectators were carried to a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.
'They just started bringing people in with no limbs,' said Tim Davey, of Richmond, Va. He said he and his wife, Lisa, tried to keep their children's eyes shielded from the gruesome scene, but 'they saw a lot.'
'They just kept filling up with more and more casualties,' Lisa Davey said. 'Most everybody was conscious. They were very dazed.'
 Boston Police look at blown out windows at the scene of the first explosion on Boylston Street near the finish line of the Boston Marathon
 A man comforts an injured woman on the sidewalk at the scene of the first explosion on Boylston Street near the finish line
Some 23,000 runners took part in the 26.2-mile race, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious marathons. One of Boston's biggest annual events, the race winds up near Copley Square, not far from the landmark Prudential Center and the Boston Public Library.
In the aftermath Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis asked people to stay indoors or go back to their hotel rooms and avoid crowds as bomb squads checked parcels and bags left along the race route.
The Federal Aviation Administration barred low-flying aircraft from within 3.5 miles of the site.
'There are people who are really, really bloody,' said Laura McLean, a runner from Toronto, who was in the medical tent being treated for dehydration when she was pulled out to make room for victims.
 A man is loaded into an ambulance after he was injured by one of two bombs exploded during the 117th Boston Marathon near Copley Square on April 15, 2013
 Emergency personnel respond to the scene
 A person who was injured in an explosion near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon is taken away from the scene in a wheelchair
In the hour after the explosions one senior U.S. intelligence official said the two other explosive devices found nearby were being dismantled. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the findings publicly.
'There are a lot of people down,' said one man, whose bib No. 17528 identified him as Frank Deruyter of North Carolina.
He was not injured, but marathon workers were carrying one woman, who did not appear to be a runner, to the medical area as blood gushed from her leg.
A Boston police officer was wheeled from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.
About three hours after the winners crossed the line, there was a loud explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another thunderous explosion could be heard a few seconds later.
Runner Laura McLean of Toronto told the Associated Press that she heard two explosions outside the medical tent.
'There are people who are really, really bloody,' McLean said. 'They were pulling them into the medical tent.'
 Medical workers wheel the injured across the finish line
 The two explosions went off within seconds of each other near Boston's Copley Square and the finish line of the race in the city's Back Bay neighborhood
Steven Saurbier, who saw the explosion’s aftermath from his window, told The New York Observer: ‘It shook my building, we’re about 100 yards down the street. I figured it was a cannon, or some giant confetti blast, or something planned for the Marathon.
'Then a second blast went off–much larger–and it rattled the whole building.
‘There was a large cloud of white smoke and people were running from the blast site. Police swarmed immediately, they removed one or two people after patting them down. There were a lot of injured people … I estimate 20 people were medically transported. … I saw a woman being carried by two men and I am almost positive her left leg was blown off at the knee.'
All off-duty Boston police officers have been called in to work following the blasts.
A spokesman for the Boston Marathon said that the race's headquarters are on lock down.
Train service on the green line between Kenmore and Park suspended, according to the MBTA.
Windows of Marathon sports store blown out by the force of the two blasts.
Have a friend running the marathon? Check out this site to find their most recent checkpoint. Additionally, families looking for loved ones should call 617-635-4500. Anyone with info about explosions should call 1800-494-TIPS
Additional reporting by Sara Nathan. |
