Blasts rip through Boston Marathon route,kill 3,injure over 140

In Pictures: Boston Marathon Blasts

President Barack Obama,speaking from the White House late Monday,pointedly avoided using the words 8220;terror8221; or 8220;terrorism,8221; saying officials 8220;still do not know who did this or why.8221; However,a White House official later said the explosions at one of the world8217;s oldest and most prestigious race was being treated as terrorism.

From Indian Express archives: 9/11 anniversary

8220;We will find out who did this. We8217;ll find out why they did this,8221; Obama said in his brief statement. 8220;Any responsible individuals,any responsible groups,will feel the full weight of justice.8221;

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.

As many as two unexploded bombs were also found near the end of the 26.2-mile 42-kilometer course as part of what appeared to be a well-coordinated attack,but they were safely disarmed,according to a senior U.S. intelligence official,who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation.

The fiery twin blasts took place almost simultaneously and about 100 yards meters apart,knocking spectators and at least one runner off their feet,shattering windows and sending dense plumes of smoke rising over the street and through the fluttering national flags lining the course.

When the second bomb went off,the spectators8217; cheers turned to screams. As sirens blared,emergency workers and National Guardsmen assigned to the race for crowd control began climbing over and tearing down temporary fences to get to the blast site.

A pool of blood formed,and huge shards were missing from window panes as high as three stories.

8220;They just started bringing people in with no limbs,8221; said runner Tim Davey,of Virginia. He said he and his wife,Lisa,tried to keep their children8217;s eyes shielded from the gruesome scene inside a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners,but 8220;they saw a lot.8221;

Police said three people were killed. An 8-year-old boy was among the dead,according to a person who had talked to a friend of the family and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said the boy8217;s mother and sister were also injured as they waited for his father to finish the race.

Boston police said three people were killed. Hospitals reported at least 144 injured,at least 17 of them critically. The injuries ranged from cuts and bruises to amputations. Many victims suffered lower leg injuries and shrapnel wounds. Some suffered ruptured eardrums.

At Massachusetts General Hospital,Alasdair Conn,chief of emergency services,said: 8220;This is something I8217;ve never seen in my 25 years here 8230; this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war.8221;

Some 23,000 runners took part in the race,which attracts more than 500,000 spectators and winds up in the heart of central Boston,near the landmark Prudential Center and the Boston Public Library. It is held on Patriots Day,a Massachusetts state holiday which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward 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 didn8217;t know precisely where the bombs were planted or whether they were hidden in mailboxes or trash cans.

He said authorities had received 8220;no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen8221; at the race.

The president was briefed on the incident Monday by several senior administration officials,including FBI Director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He also spoke with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino and pledged to provide whatever federal support was needed.

Additionally,the president spoke with Republican and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill,saying that 8220;on days like this,there are no Republicans or Democrats,we are Americans united in our concern for our fellow citizens.8221;

The Federal Aviation Administration created a no-fly zone over the site of the explosions,and briefly ordered flights bound for Boston8217;s Logan International Airport held on the ground at airports around the U.S.

A few miles kilometers away from the finish line and around the same time,a fire broke out at the John F. Kennedy presidential library. The police commissioner said it may have been caused by an incendiary device but didn8217;t appear to be related to the bombings.

The first loud explosion occurred on the north side of Boylston Street,just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. The second explosion could be heard a few seconds later.

They occurred about four hours into the race and two hours after the men8217;s winner crossed the line. By that point,more than 17,000 of the runners had finished the race,but thousands of others were farther back along the course.

The four-hour mark is typically a highly crowded time near the finish line _ both because of the slow-but-steady recreational runners likely to be 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.

A 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.

At the White House,the Secret Service expanded its security perimeter after the attacks,shutting down Pennsylvania Avenue and cordoning off the area with yellow police tape. Several Secret Service patrol cars blocked off entry points,although the White House was not on lockdown and tourists and other onlookers were still allowed in the park across the street.

At Congress,members of intelligence committees said they expected to be briefed on the attack on Tuesday.

A woman who was near the second bomb,Brighid Wall,35,said that when it exploded,runners and spectators froze,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,8221;Don8217;t get up,don8217;t get up.8221;

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.

8220;My ears are zinging. Their ears are zinging. It was so forceful. It knocked us to the ground.8221;

Competitors and race volunteers were crying as they fled the chaos. Authorities went onto the course to carry away the injured while race stragglers were rerouted away from the smoking site.

Roupen Bastajian,a 35-year-old state police officer from the neighboring state of Rhode Island,had just finished the race when they put the heat blanket wrap on him and he heard the blasts.

8220;I started running toward the blast. And there were people all over the floor,8221; he said. 8220;We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs. A lot of people amputated. 8230; At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing,or an ankle missing,or two legs missing.8221;

The Boston Marathon honored the victims of the December shooting in Newtown,Connecticut,with a special mile marker in Monday8217;s race.

Boston Athletic Association president Joanne Flaminio previously said there was 8220;special significance8221; to the fact that the race is 26.2 miles long and 26 people died at Sandy Hook Elementary school.

Cities worldwide stepped up security following the explosions.

In Britain,police said they were reviewing security plans for Sunday8217;s London Marathon,the next major international marathon. Thousands of people compete in the London Marathon every year,thronging the city8217;s streets. London is also considered a top target for international terrorists.

A London Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed Monday that police are working with marathon officials to review security plans for Sunday8217;s event. The London race8217;s chief executive,Nick Bitel,expressed shock and sadness about the situation in Boston,saying 8220;it is a very sad day for athletics and for our friends in marathon running.8221;

In New York City,police spokesman Paul Browne said that critical response teams are deployed around the city. Officials were stepping up security at hotels and other prominent locations.

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

8220;I was expecting my husband any minute,8221; she said. 8220;I don8217;t know what this building is 8230; it just blew. Just a big bomb,a loud boom,and then glass everywhere. Something hit my head. I don8217;t know what it was. I just ducked.8221;

History of US bombings,failed attempts

Here is a list of some of the worst bombings in the U.S. dating to the 1800s,including some famous attempts that failed:

_ April 15,2013: Two bombs explode in the packed streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon,killing three people and injuring more than 140.

_ Jan. 17,2011: A backpack bomb is placed along a Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane,Wash.,meant to kill and injure participants in a civil rights march,but is found and disabled before it can explode. White supremacist Kevin Harpham is convicted and sentenced to 32 years in federal prison.

_ May 1,2010: Pakistani immigrant Faisal Shahzad leaves an explosives-laden SUV in New York8217;s Times Square,hoping to detonate it on a busy night. Street vendors spot smoke coming from the vehicle and the bomb is disabled. Shahzad is arrested as he tries to leave the country and is sentenced to life in prison.

_ Dec. 25,2009: The so-called 8220;underwear bomber,8221; Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab,is subdued by passengers and crew after trying to blow up an airliner heading from Paris to Detroit using explosives hidden in his undergarments. He8217;s sentenced to life in prison.

_ Sept. 11,2001: Four commercial jets are hijacked by 19 al-Qaida militants and used as suicide bombs,bringing down the two towers of New York City8217;s World Trade Center and crashing into the Pentagon. Nearly 3,000 people are killed in New York,Washington and Pennsylvania.

_ Jan 22,1998: Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty in Sacramento,Calif.,to being the Unabomber in return for a sentence of life in prison without parole. He8217;s locked up in the federal Supermax prison in Colorado for killing three people and injuring 23 during a nationwide bombing spree between 1978 and 1995.

_ Jan. 20,1998: A bombing at an abortion clinic in Birmingham,Ala.,kills one guard and injures a nurse. Eric Robert Rudolph is suspected in the case.

_ July 27,1996: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta during the Summer Games,killing two people and injuring more than 100. Eric Robert Rudolph is arrested in 2003. He pleads guilty and is sentenced to life in prison.

_ April 19,1995: A car bomb parked outside the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City kills 168 people and injures more than 500. It is the deadliest U.S. bombing in 75 years. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are convicted. McVeigh is executed in 2001 and Nichols is sentenced to life in prison.

_ Feb. 26,1993: A bomb in a van explodes in the underground World Trade Center garage in New York City,killing six people and injuring more than 1,000. Five extremists are eventually convicted.

_ Oct. 11,1985: A bomb explodes at the Santa Ana,Calif. office of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,killing a director at the organization and injuring several others. The case remains unsolved.

_ Nov. 7,1983: A bomb blows a hole in a wall outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol in Washington. No one is hurt. Two leftist radicals plead guilty.

_ May 16,1981: A bomb explodes in a men8217;s bathroom at the Pan Am terminal at New York8217;s Kennedy Airport,killing a man. A group calling itself the Puerto Rican Armed Resistance claims responsibility. No arrests are made.

_ Dec. 29,1975: A bomb hidden in a locker explodes at the TWA terminal at New York8217;s LaGuardia Airport,killing 11 people and injuring 75. Palestinian,Puerto Rican and Croatian groups are suspected,but no arrests are made.

_ Jan. 29,1975: The U.S. State Department building in Washington,D.C.,is bombed by the radical left group Weather Underground. No one is killed.

_ Jan. 24,1975: A bomb goes off at historic Fraunces Tavern in New York City,killing four people. It was one of 49 bombings attributed to the Puerto Rican nationalist group FALN between 1974 and 1977 in New York.

_ Aug. 6,1974: A bomb goes off at Los Angeles International Airport,killing three people and injuring 36. Muharem Kurbegovic,a Yugoslavian national who became known as the 8220;Alphabet Bomber,8221; is convicted.

_ Jan. 27,1972: A bomb wrecks the New York City office of impresario Sol Hurok,who had been booking Soviet artists. One person is killed and nine are injured,Hurok among them. A caller claiming to represent Soviet Jews claims responsibility,but no arrests are made.

_ March 1,1971: The Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington,D.C.,is bombed by the radical left group Weather Underground. No one is killed.

_ March 6,1970: Three members of the Weather Underground accidentally blow themselves up in their townhouse in New York City8217;s Greenwich Village while making bombs.

_ Sept. 16,1963: Four black girls are killed in a bombing at Birmingham,Ala.8217;s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Years later,juries convicted three Ku Klux Klansmen and one suspected accomplice died without ever having been charged. One of the four is still in prison and the others are dead.

_ 1951-56: George Metesky,a former Consolidated Edison employee with a grudge against the company,sets off a series of blasts at New York landmarks,including Grand Central station and Radio City Music Hall. No one is killed. Known as The Mad Bomber,Metesky spends 16 years in a mental hospital.

_ May 18,1927: 45 people _ 38 of them children _ are killed when a school district treasurer,Andrew Kehoe,lines the Bath Consolidated School near Lansing,Mich.,with hundreds of pounds of dynamite,and blows it up. Investigators say Kehoe,who also died in the blast,thought he would lose his farm because he couldn8217;t pay property taxes used to build the school.

_ Sept. 16,1920: A bomb explodes in New York City8217;s Wall Street area,killing 40 and injuring hundreds. Authorities conclude it was the work of 8220;anarchists8221; and come up with a list of suspects,but all flee to Russia.

_ Oct. 1,1910: The Los Angeles Times building is dynamited during a labor dispute,killing 20 people. Two leaders of the ironworkers union plead guilty.

_ May 4,1886: A bomb blast during a labor rally at Chicago8217;s Haymarket Square kills 11 people,including seven police officers,and injures more than 100. Eight 8220;anarchists8221; are tried for inciting riot. Four are hanged,one commits suicide and three win pardons after seven years in prison.