Israel Matzav

Breaking: At least two explosions near Boston Marathon finish line, 3 dead, many injured; UPDATED WITH VIDEO; UPDATE NY POST SAYS 12 DEAD

At least three people are dead and many are injured after at least two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The explosions occurred just before 3 p.m. 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.”

A photographer with Fox affiliate WFXT reported seeing a number of victims with lost limbs.
Competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the chaos. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.

"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.

Fox's headline says at least three people are dead.

Hot Air has more (Hat Tip: Shy Guy).

More updates as I have them. I ran Boston in 1991.

UPDATE 10:48 PM

Ouch. This is the finish line after the explosions. This is painful. 

And Boston starts at 11:00 am, so 3:00 pm would be just about the peak time when the runners come in.

I can't even access Boston.com.

UPDATE 10:52 PM

Here's video. Let's go to the videotape.




UPDATE 11:02 PM

The embed codes seem to have disappeared, but you can watch live coverage from ABC News here (Hat Tip: NY Nana). 

UPDATE 11:14 PM

ABC News is reporting that most of those injured were spectators and not runners (if you watch the video above, you will see that the explosions went off in the spectator area).

I've been warning for years that this could happen in the United States. As I just told my sister-in-law (my brother was in Boston today but got out in time), welcome to our world.

UPDATE 11:19 PM

The New York Post is now reporting 12 dead and 50 injured including at least 10 amputees. I have not seen this confirmed elsewhere. 

UPDATE 11:30 PM

New York Post is reporting that there is a suspect and that he is in a Boston hospital with shrapnel injuries.

Something tells me he's not Amish.

Labels: Boston, Boston Marathon, terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:46 PM