Two bombs exploded in the packed streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing three people and injuring more than 100 others, some of them seriously, in a terrifying scene of shattered glass, billowing smoke, bloodstained pavement and severed limbs at the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathon, authorities said.
Boston police also reported another explosion at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, which is three miles from the marathon's finishing line.
"We are not certain that these incidents are related, but we are treating them as if they are," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told a news conference.
When Arab News contacted the Saudi Embassy in Washington D.C. Saudi Cultural Attaché Mohammed Aleissa confirmed that no Saudi was injured in the blasts (at the time of filing this report).
Reacting to the marathon horror, a Saudi student in the US, Khaled Almutairi, said: "I condemn these blasts. God bless America."
The Saudi Cultural Mission in the US has, meanwhile, urged Saudi students in the Boston area to take all the necessary precautionary measures and follow the city’s safety procedures.
Several Saudis studying and living in the US have expressed their concern on social media websites about a possible public backlash against Saudis living in the US as a section of the American media erroneously reported that a Saudi suspect was taken into custody following the explosions.
Some students angry over the publication of such unconfirmed reports demanded the media responsible for that be sued.
In a bizarre and shocking reaction to the blasts, Fox News regular Erik Rush jokingly suggested that “we round up Saudis and then kill them.”
Latching onto a thinly-sourced New York Post report that police had detained a Saudi national (the city’s police commissioner later said that they have no suspects in the bombing yet), Rush tweeted, “Everybody do the National Security Ankle Grab! Let’s bring more Saudis in without screening them! C’mon! #bostonmarathon.”
The columnist followed up with a response to someone asking if he was blaming Muslims: “Yes, they’re evil. Kill them all.” Rush later deleted the tweet, but not before a section of the media screen grabbed it:
In his reaction, President Barack Obama said the United States did not yet know who was responsible for blasts but vowed to find those accountable and punish them.
“We don’t yet have all the answers,” Obama said. “We still do not know who did this or why,” he added, hinting that he believed the explosions were planned but stopping short of calling them a terrorist attack.
“We will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who did this. We will find out why they did this,” Obama said from the White House briefing room.
“Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups, will feel the full weight of justice.”
Mobile service in the Boston area was suspended and a no-fly zone over the site of explosions was created.
A senior US intelligence official said two other explosive devices were found near the end of the 42-km course.
“They just started bringing people in with no limbs,” said runner Tim Davey, of Virginia. He said he and his wife, Lisa, tried to keep their children’s eyes shielded from the gruesome scene inside a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners, but “they saw a lot.”
There was no word on the motive or who may have launched the attack, and police said no suspect was in custody.
Authorities in Washington said there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The twin blasts at the race took place almost simultaneously and about 100 yards apart, knocking spectators and at least one runner off their feet, shattering windows and sending smoke rising over the street.
Some 23,000 runners took part in the race, which winds up in the heart of central Boston near Copley Square, near the Prudential Tower and the Boston Public Library.
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 didn’t know whether the bombs were planted in mailboxes or trash cans.
He said authorities had received “no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen” at the race.
The Federal Aviation Administration barred low-flying aircraft from within 5 km of the site.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the explosions by Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco. Obama also told Mayor Tom Menino and Gov. Deval Patrick that his administration would provide whatever support was needed, the White House said.
A senior US intelligence official said the two other explosive devices found nearby were being dismantled.
A woman who was a few feet from the second bomb, Brighid Wall, 35, of Duxbury, 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, “Don’t get up, don’t get up.”
After a minute or so without another explosion, Wall said, she and her family headed to a Starbucks and out the back door through an alley. Around them, the windows off the bars and restaurants were blown out.
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.”
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 trooper from neighboring Rhode Island, had just finished the race when they put the heat blanket wrap on him and 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.”
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.”
Runners who had not finished the race were diverted straight down Commonwealth Avenue and into a family meeting area, according to an emergency plan that had been in place.
In Washington, shortly after the explosions, the presidential Secret Service shut down Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House, cordoning off the area with yellow police tape. Several Secret Service patrol cars also blocked off the entry points to the road.
Attorney General Eric Holder directed the full resources of the Justice Department be deployed to investigate and a department official said Holder has spoken with FBI Director Robert Mueller. The official said the US attorney for Massachusetts’s office was coordinating the Justice Department’s response with the FBI and other federal, state and local law enforcement authorities.
Cities worldwide stepped up security following the explosions.
In Britain, police said they were reviewing security plans for Sunday’s London Marathon, the next major international marathon. Thousands of people compete in the London Marathon every year, thronging the city’s streets. London is also considered a top target for international terrorists.
A London Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that police are working with marathon officials to review security plans for Sunday’s event.
The London race’s chief executive, Nick Bitel, expressed shock and sadness about the situation in Boston, saying “it is a very sad day for athletics and for our friends in marathon running.”
Police at three major Los Angeles area airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, were in a “heightened state of vigilance,” with increased patrols to make it visible that more police were on duty, said Chief of Airport Police Patrick Gannon.
The annual marathon attracts more than 500,000 spectators. It takes place on Patriot’s Day, a state holiday that celebrates the evacuation of Boston by the British in the American Revolution.
Spectator 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.”
Saudi students have been advised by the embassy to use the following numbers if they seek any information.
Saudi General Consulate in New York the numbers:
(646) 262-9362
743- 4441 (917)
9796-981 (347)
8559- 288 (917)
5322- 655 (516)
Student Affairs at the Consulate:
3800-342 (202
2027460666
2027463555
2027469777
2027462888
Emergency numbers at the Cultural Mission:
571-379-6258
571-379-6082
571-379-6288
571-379-6465
571-379-6080
