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Boston Marathon bombing

Coordinates: 42°20′59.2″N 71°04′44.1″W / 42.349778°N 71.078917°W / 42.349778; -71.078917
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Boston Marathon bombings
Aftermath of the twin blasts
LocationOn Boylston Street west of Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Coordinates42°20′59.2″N 71°04′44.1″W / 42.349778°N 71.078917°W / 42.349778; -71.078917
DateApril 15, 2013 (2013-04-15)
2:49 p.m. EDT (UTC−04:00)
Attack type
Bombing
WeaponsPressure cooker bombs
Deaths3
Injured183

During the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs exploded, killing 3 people and injuring 183 others.[1] The bombs had been placed near the finish line, along Boylston Street. They detonated at 2:49 p.m. EDT (18:49 UTC), 12 seconds apart. No warnings had been given, and no one has been arrested or claimed responsibility for the bombing. The FBI is leading an investigation.

Bombings

The blasts occurred very near the finish line (yellow) along the marathon course (dark blue), with the first blast being closer to the finish

On Patriots' Day, Monday, April 15, 2013, the annual Boston Marathon began without any indications of an imminent attack.[2] Officials swept the area for bombs twice before the explosions; one of the sweeps occurred an hour before the bombs went off. People were able to come and go freely, and carry items in and out of the area.[3]

At 2:49 p.m. EDT (18:49 UTC), two bombs detonated on Boylston Street near Copley Square about 200 yards (180 m) apart,[4] just before the finish line.[2] The first exploded outside Marathon Sports at 671–673 Boylston Street at 2:49:44 p.m. EDT;[5] the second, one block farther west at 755 Boylston Street at 2:49:57 p.m. EDT.[6][7] Described as pressure cooker bombs, thought to be made using Fagor-brand pressure cookers, they were improvised explosive devices constructed from pressure cookers, explosives, bits of metal, and bearing balls placed in black nylon duffel bags or backpacks.[8][9][10] About 12 seconds passed between the two blasts. At the time of the first explosion, the race clock at the finish line showed 04:09:43.[11]

The finish line, 54 minutes before the first explosion

The bombs detonated about two hours after the winner crossed the finish line;[7] more than 5,700 runners had yet to finish.[12] Some runners continued to cross the line until 2:57 p.m., eight minutes after the explosions.[13] The blasts blew out windows on adjacent buildings, but did no other structural damage.[7][14]

No more bombs were found, although various bags and packages found on the street were initially treated as potential bombs. At one point on April 15, the Boston Police Bomb Squad said they would perform a controlled explosion of one such package found on the 600 block of Boylston Street, but later decided it was unnecessary.[15] Some news reports initially said that more bombs had been found.[16][2][17][18][19][20][21][22]

Victims

Template:Contains Chinese text The toll from the bombings was 3 people killed and 183 injured. Many of the injuries were grievous, requiring intensive care, and appeared to be "war-like injuries" of mutilation, shrapnel wounds, and amputations. The trauma surgery chief at Boston Medical Center said: “We see patients like this, with mangled extremities, but we don’t see 16 of them at the same time, and we don’t see patients from blast injuries.”[23]

Deaths

The scene, immediately after the first blast

Three spectators were killed in the bombings: Krystle M. Campbell, 29, a female restaurant manager from Medford, Massachusetts;[24] Lü Lingzi (simplified Chinese: 吕令子; traditional Chinese: 呂令子[25]), 23, a female Chinese national and Boston University graduate student from Shenyang, Liaoning;[26] and Martin Richard, 8, a boy from the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.[27]

Injuries

Ten local hospitals treated more than 170 people. At least 15 of the injured were in critical condition on April 16, including 2 children.[5]

Many victims suffered lower leg injuries and shrapnel wounds, which indicated the devices were low to the ground.[28] Some suffered ruptured eardrums.[28] At least 13 of the injured suffered severed limbs.[2][5][8][29][30] Doctors described removing "ball-bearing type" metallic beads a little larger than BBs, and small carpenter-type nails about 1 to 2.5 centimeters (0.4 to 1 in) long.[31] Similar objects were found at the scene.[32] The New York Times stated that, according to doctors, because the bombs were low to the ground, the injuries mainly affected legs and feet instead of abdomens, chests, and heads, and as a result few deaths occurred.[23]

Responses

Emergency services at work after the bombings

Rescue workers, medical personnel on hand to assist runners, bystanders, and runners rushed to help the wounded in the immediate aftermath.[33][34]

The marathon was halted abruptly. Police, following emergency plans, diverted the remaining runners away from the finish line to Boston Common and Kenmore Square.[2] The nearby Lenox Hotel was also evacuated.[2] Police closed down a 15-block area around the blast site; this was reduced to a 12-block crime scene on April 16.[14][35] Massachusetts Army National Guard soldiers already on scene joined local authorities in rendering aid.[2] Bomb squads searched the area.[5] Many bystanders had dropped backpacks and other bags as they fled, requiring each to be treated as a potential bomb. Boston police commissioner Ed Davis recommended that people stay off the streets.[14]

Police and other emergency workers on the scene

As a precaution, the FAA restricted airspace over Boston, and issued a temporary ground stop for Boston's Logan International Airport.[36] Some Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority service was halted.[7] Several cities in Massachusetts and other states put their police forces on alert.[37] U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder directed that the "full resources" of the U.S. Department of Justice be brought to bear on investigating the explosions.[2] The Navy sent one of its bomb-disposal units to Boston to help local authorities.[38]

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency suggested people trying to contact those in the vicinity use text messaging, instead of voice calls, because of crowded cellphone lines.[7] Cellphone service in Boston was congested but remained in operation, despite some local media reports stating that cell service was shut down.[39]

The American Red Cross helped concerned friends and family receive information about runners and casualties.[40][41] The Boston Police Department also set up a helpline for people concerned about relatives or acquaintances to contact and a line for people to provide information.[42] Google Person Finder activated their disaster service under Boston Marathon Explosions to log known information about missing persons as a publicly viewable file.[43]

Due to the closure of several hotels near the blast zone, some out-of-town visitors were left with nowhere to stay; many Boston-area residents opened their homes to them.[44]

Investigation

Hazmat workers near the scene

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the attack along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Counterterrorism Center,[45] is treating the bombings as a terrorist attack, though no perpetrator has officially been identified.[17]

Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Field Office, addresses the media

At a press conference held at 6:00 p.m. on the day of the bombings, Boston police commissioner Edward F. Davis told reporters that no suspect was in custody.[46] Though not treated as suspects, several people who were near the scene of the blast and the surrounding area were taken into custody and questioned about the bombings, including a Saudi man that police stopped as he was walking away from the explosion, and detained when some of his responses to questions "made them uncomfortable".[47][48] Early in the morning on April 16, law enforcement officials searched a residence in the nearby Boston suburb of Revere, the home of the Saudi man, who had been injured by shrapnel and was considered to be a "person of interest".[17][49] CNN also reported that the man was found to have no connection to the attack, with an unnamed U.S. official saying "he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."[50]

United States government officials stated that there had been no intelligence reports that indicated such a bombing would take place. Representative Peter King, member of the House Intelligence Committee said: "I received two top secret briefings last week on the current threat levels in the United States, and there was no evidence of this at all."[51]

The FBI reports that this pressure cooker fragment is part of one of the explosive devices

A person who was briefed on the investigation said at least one of the devices was made from a pressure cooker packed with shards of metal, nails, and ball bearings to inflict maximum casualties and was placed in a backpack.[50] The lid of one pressure cooker was found on a nearby rooftop.[52] Investigators have found remains of an electronic circuit board that was possibly used in the timer of the bomb.[53] Gun powder was most likely used in the explosive devices.[54]

The president of Boston's City Council, Stephen J. Murphy, told reporters on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, that a surveillance tape showing a man depositing a black backpack near the location of the first explosion had been discovered.[55] Authorities have found clear video images of two separate suspects' faces carrying black backpacks at the scene of each explosion.[56][57][58]

Reactions

Reaction to the bombings came in from law enforcement, local and national politicians, and various heads of state.[59][60]

Local

The MBTA public transit system, which was partly shut down, was under heavy National Guard and police presence.[61] As a safety precaution, the NHL postponed a Boston Bruins hockey home game against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden scheduled for April 15, to April 28 instead.[62] The NBA's Boston Celtics game scheduled for April 16 against the Indiana Pacers was canceled since both teams' playoff seedings were already set.[62] The Boston Symphony Orchestra canceled its April 15 performance.[63]

National

President Barack Obama delivering a statement on April 15, 2013, in the aftermath of the bombings

President Barack Obama addressed the nation three hours and twenty minutes after the attack.[64] He said that, while the perpetrator(s) were still unknown, the government would "get to the bottom of this" and that those responsible "will feel the full weight of justice".[65] The President again addressed the American people the next day. He later described the bombing as terrorism, declaring, "Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror."[66] President Obama and wife First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Boston on April 18 to attend and address an interfaith service to honor the victims of the attacks at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.[67][68][69]

Speaker John Boehner ordered that flags outside the U.S. Capitol be lowered to half-staff.[70] The flag on the White House was lowered to half-staff the next day as well. President Obama also issued a proclamation ordering flags to half-staff through April 20 on all federal buildings as "a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on April 15, 2013, in Boston, Massachusetts."[71]

A minute of silence was observed at the openings of the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and NYMEX the next day.[72]

International

The bombings were denounced and condolences were offered by many international leaders.[73][74]

Organizers of the forthcoming London Marathon, planned for April 21, reviewed security arrangements for their event, despite there not being any specific threats against it.[75] Security measures were increased worldwide in the wake of the explosions in Boston.[73]

The Russian government, which is holding several international sports events in the near future, including the 2014 Winter Olympics, stated that special attention will be paid to security at those events.[76]

References

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