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Washington/Boston: At least three people were killed
and 141 others were injured as two powerful explosions rocked the
Boston Marathon finish line in a potential terrorist attack Monday
afternoon.
When the smoke cleared after the blasts in Boston's Back Bay
section, dozens of victims lay in the street, some unconscious,
some grievously injured, including some whose limbs had been torn
off by the blast, Boston Globe reported.
The dead included an 8-year-old boy, the newspaper said citing two
law enforcement sources. Boston Children's Hospital reported that
those treated there included a 9-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy,
a 12-year-old, and a 2-year-old.
Chaos erupted as near-simultaneous blasts struck about 90 metres
apart, the first on Boylston Street near the photo bridge that
marks the finish line, CTV News said. The explosion knocked some
spectators and runners off their feet.
Paramedics and National Guard members who were working the race
rushed to tear down fencing that cordoned off the spectator area
from the course in order to reach and treat the injured.
The blasts threw people to the ground. Boston Police Commissioner
Ed Davis said Monday night that the death toll had risen to three.
Scores were injured at the scene.
Hospitals reported at least 141 people are being treated, with at
least 17 of them in critical condition and 25 in serious
condition, CNN said. At least eight of the patients are children.
Investigators warned police to be on the lookout for a
"darker-skinned or black male" with a possible foreign accent in
connection with the attack, the channel said citing a law
enforcement advisory obtained by it.
The man was seen with a black backpack and sweatshirt and was
trying to get into a restricted area about five minutes before the
first explosion, the lookout notice states.
Also, a Saudi national with a leg wound was under guard at a
Boston hospital in connection with the bombings, but investigators
cannot say he is involved at this time and he is not in custody, a
law enforcement official said Monday evening, it said.
Authorities in Boston found at least one other explosive device
that they were dismantling, Davis said.
In a television address President Barack Obama pledged the full
resources of the federal government in helping Boston and in
investigating the bombings and said those responsible would feel
the "full weight of justice."
"The American people will say a prayer for Boston tonight," he
said. The president cautioned that authorities were still
investigating and that people should not jump to any conclusions
before all of the facts are learned.
"But make no mistake," Obama said. "We will get to the bottom of
this and we will find out who did this. We'll find out why they
did this and we will hold them accountable."
The blast came on Patriots Day, Obama noted, which is a state
holiday in Massachusetts that celebrates the beginning of the
American Revolution.
Obama stopped short of calling the incident an act of terrorism.
Federal authorities are classifying the bombings as a terrorist
attack, CNN reported citing a federal law enforcement official.
But it's not clear whether the origin was domestic or foreign, the
official said
A federal law enforcement official told CNN that both bombs were
small, and initial tests showed no C-4 or other high-grade
explosive material, suggesting that the packages used in the
attack were crude explosive devices.
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