BREAKING NEWS: At Least 2 Killed, 23 Hurt in Boston Marathon Bombing

At least 2 dead, dozens injured after two bombs explode at Boston Marathon

Published April 15, 2013

At least two people are dead and dozens injured – including up to 10 with amputated limbs – after at least two bombs tore through the finish line of the Boston Marathon, according to the Boston Police Department.

The simultaneous explosions, and reports of two other unexploded devices found near the scene raised suspicions that the blasts, just before 3 p.m., could be part of a terrorist attack. Intelligence officials told The Associated Press two unexploded devices were being dismantled, and reports of a third "controlled" explosion near the JFK Library in the Columbia Point section of Dorchester, may have been an intentional detonation supervised by authorities. Competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the bloody chaos, while some witnesses reported seeing victims with lost limbs.
"Somebody's leg flew by my head," a spectator, who gave his name as John Ross, told the Boston Herald. “I gave my belt to stop the blood.”

Witnesses heard booms that sounded like two claps of thunder near the finish line inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel, according to multiple local reports. The horror unfolded as the city marked the 238th annual Patriot's Day, commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

Video of the scene showed a number of emergency crews in the area tending to victims and blood on the ground near the finish line.
"I saw two explosions. The first one was beyond the finish line. I heard a loud bang and I saw smoke rising," Boston Herald reporter Chris Cassidy, who was running in the marathon, told the newspaper. "I kept running and I heard behind me a loud bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something...There are people who have been hit with debris, people with bloody foreheads.”

"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 said 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."
Cherie Falgoust was waiting for her husband, who was running the race. "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."

Authorities in New York, meanwhile, are deploying counter-terrorism vehicles around landmark sites in Manhattan, including prominent hotels, according to the New York City Police Department.
Nearly 25,000 people, including runners from around the world, competed in Boston's celebrated 26.2-mile race, attracting huge throngs of onlookers, especially near the finish line.

"This is a horrific day in Boston," Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers are with those who have been injured. I have been in touch with the President, Mayor [Thomas] Menino and our public safety leaders. Our focus is on making sure that the area around Copley Square is safe and secured. I am asking everyone to stay away from Copley Square and let the first responders do their jobs."


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/15/explosion-reported-near-finish-line-boston-marathon-spokesman-says/






FoxNews.com


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/15/explosion-reported-near-finish-line-boston-marathon-spokesman-says/#ixzz2QZG51148

UPDATE: SECOND REPORT CONFIRMS SAUDI IS "PERSON OF INTEREST"...UPDATE: MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE REPORTED AT HOSPITALS AS RESULT

FROM THE NEW YORK POST: Investigators have a suspect — a Saudi Arabian national — in the horrific Boston Marathon bombings, The Post has learned.

Law enforcement sources said the 20-year-old suspect was under guard at an undisclosed Boston hospital.

It was not immediately clear why the man was hospitalized and whether he was injured in the attack or in his apprehension.

The man was caught less than two hours after the 2:50 p.m. bombing on the finish line of the race, in the heart of Boston.

www.weaselzippers.us/2013/04/15/boston-terror-attack-thread-ii-reports-claim-suspect-a-saudi-national-in-custody-injured-in-hospital/

All I can say is shame on the powers-that-be in Washington for not protecting the American people better. Fort Hood was another terrorist act even though O did not want it called that. Love or hate George Bush 43, he did everything in his power to avoid the American soil being attacked again after 9/11 including our embassies.

My thought and prayers are with everyone who were affected by this horrendous event today.

Wake up Obama,you can't talk your way out of this.Stand up and be a man for the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Writing to you from Boston ...

It would mean a lot to me if this thread didnt turn into a discussion of Obama and instead, this thread was a place where we could stand together with love and prayers for all.
Here in Boston, we are getting past the shock and as we do, all that happened to so many here today brings a lot of sadness.

People come here from all over the world (200 countries represented this year) and that is what I am going to focus on as we get to the bottom of whatever, whoever did this. The Boston Marathon has always been a wonderful symbol of hope and peace in our very, very small world.

Thanks guys.....
Charlie

....send lots of prayers for our first responders and everyone working in our great hospitals. They are working round the clock. There were so many who lost limbs because of the way the bombs went off. It was horrific even for the most experienced.
thanks again from Boston at almost 3 am. couldnt sleep...

BREAKIN NEWS… Twin explosions hit Boston Marathon in US


Added by Layla Mohammed on April 16, 2013.
Saved under Featured




(IraqiNews.com) -Twin blasts kill three people have been killed and more than 140 others hurt after two bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon.The Skynews News Channel stated “The blasts ripped through the crowd near the finish line of what is the world’s oldest marathon.”They took place almost simultaneously about 100m apart, knocking spectators and at least one runner off their feet.As the second bomb erupted, spectators’ cheers turned to screams and a pool of blood formed on the ground.Windows were shattered and dense plumes of smoke rose over the street, as national flags lining the course fluttered.More than 25,000 people were registered as taking part in the race, 374 of whom were British. There were also 108 Irish athletes.The Associated Press reported that an eight-year-old boy was among the dead. Of the 144 reported injured, 17 are critical.Barack Obama vowed to find and punish those responsible, as a senior White House official said the attacks were being treated as an act of terrorism.Mr Obama pointedly avoided using the words “terror” or “terrorism”, saying officials “still do not know who did this or why”.But he vowed: “We will find out who did this. We’ll find out why they did this. Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice.”The explosions happened about two hours after the men’s winner had crossed the line, as amateur runners were reaching the finish.More than 17,000 competitors had completed the race by the time the blasts struck but thousands of others were still taking part.TV helicopter footage showed blood on the pavement in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.Runners in the medical tent being treated for dehydration or other race-related problems were pushed out to make room for bombing victims.A woman near the second bomb, Brighid Wall, 35, said runners and spectators had frozen, unsure of what to do.Her husband threw their children to the ground, lay on top of them and another man lay on top of them and said, “Don’t get up, don’t get up.”She said she saw six to eight people bleeding profusely, including one man who was kneeling, dazed, with blood coming down his head. Another person was on the ground covered in blood and not moving.”My ears are zinging. Their ears are zinging. It was so forceful. It knocked us to the ground,” she said.Runner Tim Davey, from Virginia, was with wife Lisa and their children in a medical tent set up for exhausted runners. “They just started bringing people in with no limbs,” he said.Roupen Bastajian, 35, a state police officer from Rhode Island, had just finished the race and been handed a heat blanket when he heard the blasts.”I started running toward the blast. And there were people all over the floor,” he said. “We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs.”A lot of people amputated. … At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing.”


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Charlie sorry if I offended you,I just want our country to be responseable to it's people.My prayers are already with all of you in this very sad time of need.GOD BLESS.

thanks ron-man ... Hey we all see our politicians from our own perspective and that is the way it should be. I just didnt want to spend time on that right now so I appreciate the focus on the people here in Boston. So so much is going on here.

In the spirit of strength and hope look at this article by a Boston guy --- a little early for this thought and a little simplistic I know but this describes the Boston Marathon to a tee.

Thanks again and I knew you and Bama Diva were just offering a point of view which is who we are here at Nenos, in Boston in our great country. Americans really are special. The stories of heartbreak, hope and everyday heros are inspiring here today. Runners finishing the marathon and grabing people injured in their arms to run them to safety. Runners running 3 miles more to the hospital to give blood. A little boy filled with pride running out to hug his Dad as he neared the finish line was killed as he rejoined his Mom and sister on the sidelines.
Twelve blocks of the City are closed - this is a huge crime scene and yet there is resolve and belief that they will get to the bottom of this and everyone who has pictures and film is being asked to hand them in to the Boston Police and FBI ... interesting common sense thought I just heard, pictures from even hours or days before of the area are helpful because these cowards were certainly at the scene planning before it happened. So if by any chance someone here reads this and knows someone who was in boston especially Copley Square even days before, your photos could matter. They are going to be found.

Thanks for listening. See the hopeful article below from just a regular guy who loves the Boston and our Marathon.

Local Voices

Jon McGrath Boston Will Be Back (I Hope)




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I spent the early part of Monday as I have the past several Patriots Days - watching the Boston Marathon with my kids. Conor, 11, has always been the most taken with the race, watching from start to finish, and getting mad when his brother would switch over for a Red Sox score.

This morning, I asked him if he’d like to run it one day, and he responded with an enthusiastic “yes!” I told him that I knew he would some day, because he can be a very determined kid and has the lean body that lends itself to running.

As for myself, I’m shaped more like 5’10” 200 pound fire hydrant than anything built for speed over the long haul. When the time comes, my lifetime achievements won’t take long to list in my obituary; but, between 1992 - 2004, I did finish the Boston Marathon six times, anywhere between about 3:20 and 4:30. Those are some of the most memorable days of my life.

Marathons are not special in themselves because anyone can run one. If you take the time and dedicate yourself to running regularly and stretching out those long runs, anyone in good health to begin with can do it.

But Boston is special, and not because of the runners. The crowds that line the streets from Hopkinton to Boylston Street are as much a part of the race as the runners, themselves. Now 10 years removed from my last Boston, I still have vivid memories of some of the people cheering along the way.

The kid standing in front of his house in Framingham offering oranges he cut up and put in a bowl.
The Wellesley College girls, who cheer just as much for a schlub like me as they do the leaders. Hearing their roar well before you can even see them gives me goosebumps even as I think about it now.
The woman near the top of Heartbreak Hill who, seeing my obvious suffering at the time, told me she knew I could make it, she just knew it because I was almost there. She was right.
To the guy who ran alongside me trying to convince me that finishing his beer was my ticket to a strong finish. I politely declined.

And the finish line crowd, lined up 10 - 12 deep, urging me forward down Boylston Street, a stretch I have walked before and seems much shorter when you are walking it on a leisurely Sunday afternoon than when you are running the last .2 of 26.2 miles.

Thinking people in that crowd were blown up today breaks my heart. As far as I know, I don’t know any of them, personally.But I do.

They are my dad meeting me after my first Boston my senior year of college in 1992. They are my brother on that same day, at the time an 18 year-old in treatment for brain cancer, who I thought of every step of the way.

They are my mom, probably worrying the whole time I was running that I’d hurt myself or get sick or something, until she saw me cross the finish line. They are my father in-law, not even flinching as, exhausted and dehydrated, I puked on the way home when he picked me up. They are my wife, hugging my disgustingly sweaty and salty body at the finish, and taking care of me at home afterwards.

They will be me, one day, cheering on Conor, because the Boston Marathon is the world’s greatest race, and it’s right in our backyard.

Guys and women like me can run the same course on the same day as the greatest runners in the world, with 500,000 people cheering for us all, spraying us with their garden hoses, offering us oranges, and thrusting cups of water in our hands (and other liquids, especially in the Boston College area).

Boston will be back. It’s too good not to be. It might not be exactly the same for a while, but it will be back. I’ve always hated the cliche “Everyone’s a winner,” but, next year and beyond, that will be true in Boston.

We were all watching the news coverage this afternoon and evening. Conor looked at me and said, "I'm still gonna run it."

I believe him.

i am so saddened by this that it's all i can think about.side from that, the only other thing bothering me is that it must take a sick, twisted egomaniac to do such a horrible thing to innocent people.and furthermore, in my opinion i think it's ridiculous to blame politicians (any of them} for this! my prayers to all affected by this cowardly act.