Boston Marathon

[JamesVincent]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... M.facebook

Two loud explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon turned a celebratory occasion on Monday into a hectic scene of confusion, panic and injuries among bystanders.

The successive booms went off shortly before 3 p.m. near Copley Square, according to multiple news reports.

[Pottapaug1938]

The local newspaper web sites are slowed to a crawl, because so many people are trying to access them for news. I'm listening to FM radio, so even though I can see downtown from here, my information is very sparse.

[Pottapaug1938]

The radio is saying that the second blast was apparently calculated to get the responders to the first blast.

[Pottapaug1938]

The web site for WBZ is carrying live reports from the scene. The finish line has been closed off, and runners are being diverted onto Commonwealth Ave., a block away.

[JamesVincent]

And now the JFK library is on fire?

[The Observer]

The radio is saying that the second blast was apparently calculated to get the responders to the first blast.

It was a bad calculation, in that reports are saying it went off about ten seconds after the first blast. Not enough time for the responders to even get there in force.

[The Observer]

Also, as a caveat, please help keep this thread politically neutral and do not let it get off into side channels over politics. Thanks!

[Pottapaug1938]

And now the JFK library is on fire?

I don't think so. I just took a look towards downtown; and if the library was on fire I'd see a smoke plume. WBZ radio is saying nothing about it, either.

So far, two dead and two dozen injured.

[Pottapaug1938]

Apparently, firefighters recovered two other bombs which did not go off. They have both been disarmed.

[JamesVincent]

So far I've heard of the two main explosions, a third device and controlled explosion and a possible fourth device.

[Pottapaug1938]

So far I've heard of the two main explosions, a third device and controlled explosion and a possible fourth device.

WBZ just confirmed one other bomb which was recovered, unexploded, and was inactivated. The "controlled explosion" was something called a "water bomb".

[wserra]

Pottapaug, was anyone you know downtown watching (or running in) the marathon?

ETA: a couple of other Quatloosians live in the greater Boston area. Dezcad, right? And maybe one or two others? Everybody accounted for?

[Pottapaug1938]

None of my friends were likely to be downtown; more likely, they were in Newton, somewhere along Heartbreak Hill. Some people from my company were running; but so far nothing has come through about them.

If Burzmali is still on board, here, he lives not too far from me.

There is now surveillance video of a guy putting a backpack in the trash can where the first bomb went off.

[Pottapaug1938]

We just got confirmation that something did happen at the JFK Library, which is about a mile due east of where I live.

[JamesVincent]

Chief of police confirmed an explosion inside JFK library.

[Dezcad]

Pottapaug, was anyone you know downtown watching (or running in) the marathon?

ETA: a couple of other Quatloosians live in the greater Boston area. Dezcad, right? And maybe one or two others? Everybody accounted for?

One of my co-workers ran the marathon and finished at 2:35PM and the blasts were at 2:55PM. We received a text from her about an hour ago that she was OK. It was a very anxious hour.

[Dezcad]

Best place for live updates and video of the explosion.

[Burzmali]

I'm still in one piece, I had a few coworkers in the area, but I was 25 miles away at the time.

[Pottapaug1938]

All of my coworkers who ran the Marathon are okay.

[Pottapaug1938]

The Bruins game just got cancelled. The authorities don't want people gathering anywhere. Also, all flights which have Boston as a destination are under a "ground stop", which means that they are being held at the airports of departure.