BOSTON’S BOMB HORROR
3 killed, at least 144 hurt as twin bomb blasts strike Boston Marathon
BOSTON — Two bombs exploded in the packed streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon Monday, killing three people and injuring at least 144 in a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs that once again raised the spectre of terrorism on American soil.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis confirmed the three deaths Monday night but didn’t say whether an eight- year- old boy was killed, as reported by the Boston Globe.
The fiery twin blasts took place almost simultaneously and about 100 yards apart around 2: 50 p. m. local time as throngs of people watched runners cross the finish line. Some of the victims lost arms and legs. Other injuries included broken bones, shrapnel wounds and ruptured eardrums. Hospitals reported at least 17 people with critical injuries.
A White House official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still unfolding said the attack was being treated as an act of terrorism.
President Barack Obama vowed that those responsible will “feel the full weight of justice.”
As the FBI took charge of the investigation, authorities shed no light on a motive or who may have carried out the bombings, and police said they had no suspects in custody. Officials in Washington said there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
WBZ- TV reported late Monday that law enforcement officers were searching an apartment in the Boston suburb of Revere. Massachusetts State Police confirmed that a search warrant related to the investigation into the explosions was served Monday night in Revere, but provided no further details.
Describing the gruesome scene at the site of the explosions earlier in the day, runner Tim Davey said: “They just started bringing people in with no limbs.”
He said he and his wife Lisa tried to keep their children’s eyes shielded from the carnage inside a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners, 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.”
Jordan Back of North Vancouver started hearing the sirens about 40 minutes after completing his run. He and eight others from his club were competing in his “dream” marathon.
“It’s absolutely horrible,” he said.
“Another thing that is a sad irony — this race was a tribute to the 26 adults and children killed in Newtown, Connecticut, and they were dedicating these 26 miles to these 26 lives.”
To think that something this horrible could happen on a day when we were paying respect to those individuals ... is really just hard to grasp.”
The marathon honoured the victims of the Newtown shooting with a special mile marker. Boston Athletic Association president Joanne Flaminio previously said there was “special significance” to the fact that the race is 26.2 miles long and 26 people died at Sandy Hook elementary school.
Some 23,000 runners took part in the race, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathons. It is held on Patriots’ Day, which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution, at Concord and Lexington, in 1775.
The explosions happened about four hours into the race. By that point, more than 17,000 runners had finished it, but thousands of others were farther back along the course. The attack may have been timed for maximum carnage: The four- hour mark is typically a crowded moment near the finish line because of the slowbutsteady recreational runners completing the race and because of all the relatives and friends clustered around to cheer them on.
Runners in the medical tent for treatment of dehydration or other race- related ills were pushed out to make room for victims of the bombing. After the blasts, Police Commissioner Davis asked people to stay indoors or go back to their hotel rooms and avoid crowds as bomb squads methodically checked parcels and bags left along the race route. He said investigators didn’t know precisely where the bombs were planted or whether they were hidden in mailboxes or trash cans.
He said authorities had received “no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen” at the race.
The Federal Aviation Administration barred low- flying aircraft from within 3.5 miles of the site.
Obama also told Mayor Tom Menino and Gov. Deval Patrick that his administration would provide whatever support was needed, the White House said.
“We still don’t know who did this or why,” Obama said, adding, “Make no mistake: We will get to the bottom of this.”
With scant official information to guide them, members of Congress said there was little or no doubt it was an act of terrorism. “We just don’t know whether it’s foreign or domestic,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R- Texas, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.
A few miles away from the finish line and around the same time, a fire broke out at the John F. Kennedy Library. The police commissioner said it may have been caused by an incendiary device but didn’t appear to be related to the bombings.
At Massachusetts General Hospital, Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency services, said: “This is something I’ve never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war.”