3 dead, more than 100 injured in Boston Marathon explosions [updated]

UPDATED:  Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says the city is on heightened alert after two bombs at the Boston Marathon killed three people and injuring more than 100 others on Monday afternoon. Ramsey has not ordered any extra security in the city, but the force is telling beat cops to be vigilant in looking for possible threats.

“Pay attention, pay particular attention. In light of what happened in Boston, it’s just wise to do that. It doesn’t mean there’s any threats to Philadelphia at all. We’re not aware of any threats regarding the Broad Street Run, which is the next big event we have coming up, but all this stuff now is something that everyone’s going to have to take a look at and see exactly where we are.”

Ramsey says the city is looking at security plans for the Broad Street Run in early May, but no final plans are in place yet.

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Two bombs exploded in the packed streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in a terrifying scene of shattered glass, billowing smoke, bloodstained pavement and severed limbs, authorities said.

A third blast rocked the John F. Kennedy Library a few miles away and more than an hour later, but no injuries were reported, the police commissioner said. A senior U.S. intelligence official said two other explosive devices were found near the marathon finish line.

There was no word on the motive or who may have launched the attack, and 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, tearing limbs off numerous people, knocking spectators and at least one runner off their feet, shattering windows and sending smoke rising over the street.

As people wailed in agony, bloody spectators were carried to a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.

“They just started bringing people in with no limbs,” said Tim Davey, of Richmond, Va. He said he and his wife, Lisa, tried to keep their children’s eyes shielded from the gruesome scene, but “they saw a lot.”

“They just kept filling up with more and more casualties,” Lisa Davey said. “Most everybody was conscious. They were very dazed.”

Some 23,000 runners took part in the 26.2-mile race, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathons. One of Boston’s biggest annual events, the race winds up near Copley Square, not far from the landmark Prudential Center and the BostonPublic Library.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis asked people to stay indoors or go back to their hotel rooms and avoid crowds as bomb squads checked parcels and bags left along the race route.

The Federal Aviation Administration barred low-flying aircraft from within 3.5 miles 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.

“Heard a big big bang, didn’t know what it was,” said Charlie Butler, a freelance writer on assignment for Runners World, who was on the photographer’s bridge about 10 yards past the finish line at the time of the explosion. “Thought it was a fireworks. People with us thought it was a transformer. And we found out later, it was about 15 seconds later, another big explosion. At that point we were told get off the bridge, get out of here.”

Melinda Hill, from Wynnewood, Pa., was there to cheer on her twin sister Leah. She is also a runner.

“I ran this morning,” she said. “I was actually out there this morning taking pictures right by the finish line, running along the course a couple miles, because I wasn’t running today, and I was just there. I mean, it’s just shocking. It’s just horribly shocking.”

“There are people who are really, really bloody,” said Laura McLean, a runner from Toronto, who was in the medical tent being treated for dehydration when she was pulled out to make room for victims.

About four hours into the race and two hours after the men’s winner crossed the line, there was a loud explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another explosion could be heard a few seconds later.

By that point, more than 17,000 of the runners had finished the race, but thousands of others were farther back along the course.

The Boston Police Department said three people were killed. Hospitals reported at least 100 injured, at least eight of them critically.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said the two other explosive devices found nearby were being dismantled. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the findings publicly.

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 Smithfield, R.I., 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.”

Smoke rose from the blasts, fluttering through the national flags lining the route. Blood stained the pavement in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.

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.

The Boston Marathon honored the victims of the Newtown, Conn., shooting with a special mile marker in Monday’s race.

Boston Athletic Association president Joanne Flaminio previously said there was “special significance” to the fact that the race is 26.2 miles long and 26 people died at Sandy Hook Elementary school.

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WHYY reporter Carolyn Beeler contributed to this report.