On Monday, two bombs intoxicated through the crowd at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people, causing several amputations and injuring more than 100 in what a White House official doubted would be handled as an "act of terror."
As a matter of fact, it was the worst bombing on US soil since security was tightened after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and President Barack Obama promised to hunt down whoever was responsible for the attack on a day when tens of thousands of spectators packed the streets to watch the world-famous race.
The cheers turned to screams and panic
No one has been arrested and the White House official said it would have to be determined whether the attack came from a foreign or domestic source. Many runners were heading for the finish when a fireball and smoke rose from behind cheering spectators and a row of flags representing the countries of participants, video from the scene showed resulting with the cheers turned to screams and panic.
According to Joe Anderson, 33, a fisherman from Pembroke, Massachusetts, who had just run the race holding a large U.S. flag. A Rhode Island state trooper he saw people who looked like they had their legs blown off and that there was a lot of blood over their legs. Then people were being pushed in wheelchairs, while body parts scattered the scene. Absolute shockingly these runners just finished and they don't have legs now as been continued by Roupen Bastajian.
There's blood everywhere
He continued further saying that there were so many people without legs, it's all blood. There's blood everywhere, bones, fragments making the scene really disgusting. It's like a war zone. Ambulances, fire trucks and dozens of police vehicles inclined at the scene, and spectators could be seen crying and alleviate each other. Mournfully, the dead included an 8-year-old boy, the Boston Globe reported, citing two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation. Moreover, the hospital said in a statement that a 2-year-old was being treated with a head injury at Boston Children's Hospital.
According to Melissa Stanley, who watched her daughter cross the finish line four minutes before the explosions that it sounded like a sonic boom and she haven't stopped shaking yet. Fact-fully, the blasts put police on alert in major cities across the United States, including in Washington, DC and New York City, sites of the September 11 attacks.
Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said that these were powerful devices that resulted in serious injury. On Monday night, Davis said at least three people died and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said more than 100 people were wounded. FBI Boston Special Agent In Charge Richard DesLauriers declined at a news conference to comment on media reports that police found several unexploded devices at the scene. About an hour after the 2:50 pm EDT (1850 GMT) blasts in Boston's Copley Square disfigured the usually joyous end to the marathon while a fire bursted at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library three miles (5 km) away, but no one was injured as been informed by the police. Davis further said that authorities were uncertain whether the fire was related.
Obama speaks out
According to Obama, who said in Washington, that make no mistake, they will get to the bottom of this and they will find out who did this and any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice. In fact, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, Justice Department, Homeland Security Department and other agencies were all investigating. Various officials in the United States and other countries reacted to the blasts.
Without knowing who committed the attack, the White House said it was handling the incident as "an act of terror."
Furthermore a White House official said that any event with multiple explosive devices as this appears to be is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror and that the two explosions were about 50 to 100 yards (metres) apart as runners crossed the finish line with a timer showing 4 hours and 9 minutes, some 9 minutes faster than the average finish time.
Spectators typically line the 26.2 mile (42.19 km) race course, with the heaviest crowds near the finish line. While Mike Mitchell of Vancouver, Canada, a runner who had finished the race, expressed that he was looking back at the finish line and saw a "massive explosion." Smoke rose 50 feet (15 metres) in the air.
To conclude
Mitchell continued saying that people began running and screaming after hearing the noise and that everybody freaked out. The Boston Marathon has been held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April, since 1897. The event, which starts in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ends in Boston's Copley Square, attracts an estimated half-million spectators and some 20,000 participants every year. Earlier on Monday, Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa and Kenya's Rita Jeptoo won the men's and women's events, continuing African runners' dominance in the sport.
As a concluding fact, The Boston Symphony Orchestra cancelled Monday night's concert and the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins canceled their home game against the Ottawa Senators while the Boston Red Sox had completed their Major League Baseball game at Fenway Park before the explosions.
Whether it's a terror attack or not it's undoubtedly a shock for humankind.
It's really mournful!
Image sources:Internet search on Boston massive explosions.
(AW:Samrat Biswas)
