USA: Chaos as twin blasts rock Boston Marathon

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"There was a large explosion and a white flash. It blew us all back onto each other. It was so loud, I still can’t hear out of my right ear. I was crawling on the sidewalk, and my cell phone blew out of my hand. There were some really hurt people."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald
By AP and agencies | April 16, 2013

Two bombs have exploded near the finish of the Boston Marathon, killing two people, injuring scores of others and sending authorities rushing to help wounded spectators.

The explosions occurred as recreational runners were finishing, at just before 3pm local time (5am AEST). Television footage shows two explosions occurring metres from each other near Copely Square as competitors crossed the finish line.

Runners fell to the ground, which flowed with blood. Police arrived with bomb-sniffing dogs and hotels were put on lockdown. Reports say as many as 90 people were wounded, with some having limbs blown off.
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Many Australians were in the marathon field, including wheelchair athlete Kurt Fearnley and a team of indigenous runners led by Australian marathon legend Robert de Castella. Officials say there are no sugegstions of Australian casualties.

Roupen Bastajian, a 35-year-old state trooper from Rhode Island, had just finished the race when they put the heat blanket wrap on him and he heard the first blast.


A bomb squad used what were described as controlled explosions to detonate the two other devices, including reports of one planted under a grandstand at the marathon.

Public transport was shut down and mobile-phone service in the area was disabled to prevent the remote detonation of any other devices.

The Chair of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein, was quoted as saying the  bombing was "...a terrorist incident. It could be foreign, it could be home grown."

The Secret Service has also expanded its security perimeter at the White House complex.

President Barack Obama said that while authorities still did not know who was responsible for the bombing, he promised ''we will get to the bottom of this''.

''We will find out who did this and hold them accountable,'' he said.

He immediately directed federal authorities to provide assistance, including the full resources of the FBI, while police in Los Angeles, New York City, London and other cities worldwide have stepped up their security.

Competitors and race volunteers were crying as they fled the chaos while bloodied spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.

‘‘People were screaming and grabbing their families and getting the hell out of there,’’ said John Hanlon, a 38-year-old Dorchester, Massachusetts, resident who was with his wife and two of their children near the finish line.

He said the blasts happened at about the ‘‘thickest time’’ for runners to be finishing the race. The elite runners had finished hours earlier.

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.

Phil Kirkpatrick, a 59-year-old from Nashville with blood on his jeans and shoes, said he was watching his girlfriend race when the explosions went off.

‘‘I was standing just there and something blew up on the street,’’ he said. ‘‘There was a large explosion and a white flash. It blew us all back onto each other. It was so loud, I still can’t hear out of my right ear. I was crawling on the sidewalk, and my cell phone blew out of my hand. There were some really hurt people.’’

He was taken a medical tent, and saw a man with his foot blown off.
Medical workers aid an injured man at the finish line.

Walter Antos, of Boulder, Colorado, said the explosion about a block away was ‘‘100 times louder than thunder’’.

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 just before the finish line. A few seconds later, a smaller explosion went off about one city block away.

James O’Gara, who works at 500 Boylston Street, across from the scene, said one explosion was large enough to rattle windows in his building.

Smoke rose from the blasts, fluttering through the national flags lining the route of the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathon.

TV helicopter footage showed blood staining the pavement in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.

‘‘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 of the explosions.

‘‘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.’’

The marathon, first run in 1887, is considered the most prestigious in the US. It attracts about 20,000 runners each year, most of whom have met a qualifying standard in another race. An online broadcast showed dozens of US military personnel patrolling the route.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the scenes in Boston were ‘‘shocking and tragic’’ and ‘‘cast a long shadow over one of the world’s great sporting events’’.

In a statement, Ms Gillard said Australia’s condolences went to the families of those killed.



- AP and agencies



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