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Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

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  • Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon





    By KEN BELSON and MARY PILON

    A series of explosions erupted near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday. The Boston Police Department confirmed that they were looking into an explosion, but had no further comment.

    The Associated Press reported that the authorities were helping injured runners leave the scene and bloody spectators were being carried to a medical tent that was being used for runners.

    The A.P. said that a loud explosion was heard on the north side of Boylston Street, near a photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another explosion was heard several seconds later.

    Local television showed ambulances at the scene. Pictures posted online showed several injured runners being attended to and smoke around the finish line.

    The headquarters for the organizers of the marathon, one of the world’s oldest, was reportedly locked down while authorities investigate. Reporters inside the Copley Plaza Hotel, where the media center is and where many elite athletes are staying, were unable to leave.

    The explosions went off more than four hours after the start of the men’s race, which meant that there were still several thousand runners yet to finish the race.

    Big city authorities are typically on the highest levels of alert for events like a marathon, said Anthony Roman, a security expert.

    “It is quite the counterterrorism effort,” said Mr. Roman, who runs Roman & Associates, a New York firm.

    For major events in New York and other large cities, Mr. Roman said the police would typically weld manhole covers shut, while also examining the entire route just before the race. They will also place snipers on rooftops, with helicopters overhead.

    Analytic cameras in the city will be focusing on the race, he said.

    “They have all the analytic cameras in the city focusing on the race with their advanced software network, reading license plates,” Roman said.

    The Boston Marathon is one of track’s most storied events, established in 1897 and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The event typically attracts an estimated 500,000 spectators and requires certain qualifying times for runners to compete. The course winds throughout downtown Boston as well as several outlying cities, including Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley and Newton.

    Unlike many sporting events that take place in closed arenas, marathons are known and heralded for their sprawl, allowing throngs of spectators to line the 26.2-mile course.

    Within minutes of the explosions on Monday, social media and cable networks projected the images of gray smoke on Boylston Street in Boston, emergency crews on the scene and an unknown number of persons injured.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/us...gewanted=print

  • #2
    Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

    Originally posted by don View Post




    By KEN BELSON and MARY PILON

    A series of explosions erupted near the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday. The Boston Police Department confirmed that they were looking into an explosion, but had no further comment.

    The Associated Press reported that the authorities were helping injured runners leave the scene and bloody spectators were being carried to a medical tent that was being used for runners.

    The A.P. said that a loud explosion was heard on the north side of Boylston Street, near a photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another explosion was heard several seconds later.

    Local television showed ambulances at the scene. Pictures posted online showed several injured runners being attended to and smoke around the finish line.

    The headquarters for the organizers of the marathon, one of the world’s oldest, was reportedly locked down while authorities investigate. Reporters inside the Copley Plaza Hotel, where the media center is and where many elite athletes are staying, were unable to leave.

    The explosions went off more than four hours after the start of the men’s race, which meant that there were still several thousand runners yet to finish the race.

    Big city authorities are typically on the highest levels of alert for events like a marathon, said Anthony Roman, a security expert.

    “It is quite the counterterrorism effort,” said Mr. Roman, who runs Roman & Associates, a New York firm.

    For major events in New York and other large cities, Mr. Roman said the police would typically weld manhole covers shut, while also examining the entire route just before the race. They will also place snipers on rooftops, with helicopters overhead.

    Analytic cameras in the city will be focusing on the race, he said.

    “They have all the analytic cameras in the city focusing on the race with their advanced software network, reading license plates,” Roman said.

    The Boston Marathon is one of track’s most storied events, established in 1897 and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The event typically attracts an estimated 500,000 spectators and requires certain qualifying times for runners to compete. The course winds throughout downtown Boston as well as several outlying cities, including Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley and Newton.

    Unlike many sporting events that take place in closed arenas, marathons are known and heralded for their sprawl, allowing throngs of spectators to line the 26.2-mile course.

    Within minutes of the explosions on Monday, social media and cable networks projected the images of gray smoke on Boylston Street in Boston, emergency crews on the scene and an unknown number of persons injured.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/16/us...gewanted=print
    planned to go with the missus like we do every year... but had a doctor's appt. we usually park out right before the finish line... right about... here...

    actual explosion...



    aftermath...



    3 confirmed dead... there's a lot of blood on that sidewalk. holy crap...

    Last edited by metalman; April 15, 2013, 03:17 PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

      • Two dead, 23 injured in at least two finish-line explosions
      • Runners were still finishing the race when blasts hit
      • Participant: 'There are a lot of people down'
      • Surrounding buildings were being evacuated

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

        Your post gave me chills, metalman. I'm very glad you and your wife are OK.

        What the h3ll is going on today?

        Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

          Tax day protest or foreign terrorist?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

            Originally posted by shiny! View Post
            Your post gave me chills, metalman. I'm very glad you and your wife are OK.

            What the h3ll is going on today?
            I know right? I'm almost afraid to ask if things could get any worse


            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

              Originally posted by shiny! View Post
              Your post gave me chills, metalman. I'm very glad you and your wife are OK.

              What the h3ll is going on today?
              That's a great question, shiny. Gold plunging, explosion in Boston, threats from North Korea.
              If there is a global fear-generating machine hidden in some cavern, it is running in top gear today.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                Originally posted by shiny! View Post
                Your post gave me chills, metalman. I'm very glad you and your wife are OK.

                What the h3ll is going on today?
                sorry to scare you but... yeh. we stay overnight & walk from alston in the wee hours... arrive in the dark & wait.

                i feel so sad for those poor people... can you imagine? not just the families of the dead but the injured... a lifetime of suffering... for what? attending a marathon?

                no one's claimed responsibility yet. suicide bomb?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                  Good to see that you dodged that bullet metalman

                  Originally posted by thriftyandboringinohio View Post
                  That's a great question, shiny. Gold plunging, explosion in Boston, threats from North Korea.
                  If there is a global fear-generating machine hidden in some cavern, it is running in top gear today.
                  I was thinking the very thing same. Fear is just being ratcheted up to a boiling point all over the place, and all within a very short time span
                  Last edited by verdo; April 15, 2013, 04:10 PM.


                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                    I agree Metalman. Glad to see you weren't in the area and are faring well.

                    Will

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                      Originally posted by verdo View Post
                      I was thinking the very thing same. Fear is just being ratcheted up to a boiling point all over the place, and all within a very short time span
                      Sounds like business as usual here.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                        Originally posted by verdo View Post
                        Fear is just being ratcheted up to a boiling point all over the place, and all within a very short time span
                        Oddly enough, I feel strangly serene today. I go through life with chronic anxiety, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Today feels like it has, and I can finally relax. Weird.

                        Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                          Originally posted by metalman View Post
                          sorry to scare you but... yeh. we stay overnight & walk from alston in the wee hours... arrive in the dark & wait.

                          i feel so sad for those poor people... can you imagine? not just the families of the dead but the injured... a lifetime of suffering... for what? attending a marathon?

                          no one's claimed responsibility yet. suicide bomb?
                          Mass shootings, public bombings, mental health disorders, religious zealots, ideologues ...the world seems a very unstable place these days.

                          Relieved to hear that you did not get caught up in any of this today mm!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                            Originally posted by shiny! View Post
                            Oddly enough, I feel strangly serene today. I go through life with chronic anxiety, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Today feels like it has, and I can finally relax. Weird.
                            A feeling often shared by natural disaster residence, who have lots and lots of real, honest-to-god, work to do. The letdown, post-catastrophe, comes later.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Multiple Explosions Reported at Boston Marathon

                              Saudi.

                              Comment

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