Explosion reported near finish line of Boston Marathon, spokesman says

The Boston Marathon headquarters has been locked down after an explosion was reported near the finish line, a spokesman told Reuters.

Apparent Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line Injure Dozens

Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/clubhouse/2013/04/15/large-explosion-reported-at-boston-marathon-headquarters/?wvwBO9LrD02TCrAA.99 

Several Hurt In Explosions At Boston Marathon Finish Line

BOSTON (CBS) – Several people have been hurt in two explosions near the Boston Marathon finish line.

It happened around 2:45 p.m. outside Marathon Sports on Boylston Street, according to WBZ-TV’s Lis Hughes, who was near the scene covering the marathon.

There were two “incredibly powerful explosions just seconds apart,” according to Hughes.

A quote from a witness:

I saw people's legs blown off. Horrific. Two explosions. Runners were coming in and saw unspeakable horror.

2 Explosions at Boston Marathon Finish Line
By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports WriterBOSTON April 15, 2013 (AP)

Two explosions Shattered the euphoria of the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday, sending authorities out on the course to carry off the injured while the stragglers in the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton were rerouted away from the smoking site of the blasts.

Competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the chaos. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.

"There are a lot of people down," said one man, whose bib No. 17528 identified him as Frank Deruyter of North Carolina. He was not injured, but marathon workers were carrying one woman, who did not appear to be a runner, to the medical area as blood gushed from her leg. A Boston police officer was wheeled from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.

About three hours after the winners 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 thunderous explosion could be heard a few seconds later.

Runner Laura McLean of Toronto said she heard two explosions outside the medical tent.

"There are people who are really, really bloody," McLean said. "They were pulling them into the medical tent."

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."

Multiple casualties reported after two explosions at Boston Marathon

DEVELOPING: Multiple casualties are reported after at least two explosions were heard near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, according to the Boston Herald.

Witnesses reportedly heard two booms that sounded like two claps of thunder near the finish line inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel. 

The explosions occurred just before 3 p.m. Video of the scene showed a number of emergency crews in the area tending to victims and blood on the ground near the finish line. 

"I saw two explosions. The first one was beyond the finish line. I heard a loud bang and I saw smoke rising," Boston Herald reporter Chris Cassidy, who was running in the marathon, told the newspaper. "I kept running and I heard behind me a loud bang. It looked like it was in a trash can or something...There are people who have been hit with debris, people with bloody foreheads.”

A photographer with Fox affiliate WFXT reported seeing a number of victims with lost limbs.

LIVE UPDATES: Boston Marathon Explosion

Fox News Watch live

This is new and breaking.

2 dead and 23 wounded

These explosions were about a block away from each other. Right after the first one blew up, then the second one did, down the block.

Fox News has video of the second one blowing up.

They have found 2 unexploded bombs.

Terrorist attack!!!

From Fox News:

The simultaneous explosions, and reports of two other unexploded devices found near the scene raised suspicions that the blasts, just before 3 p.m., could be part of a terrorist attack. Intelligence officials told The Associated Press two unexploded devices were being dismantled, and reports of a third controlled explosion near the JFK Library in the Columbia Point section of Dorchester, may have been an intentional detonation supervised by authorities.

Just heard from a press conference, the explosion at the library was NOT a controlled explosion!

midnight rider updates: New York Post reporting suspect in custody. A Saudi National in a hospital with shrapnel wounds.

Update from Always On Watch: Cell phone service in Boston has been shut down so as to prevent any possible detonations via remote detonation. [link]

Update from Christine: A spokesperson for the Boston Police Department said no suspects have been taken into custody yet after the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

"At this time, we haven't been notified of any arrests or anyone apprehended," the spokesperson said.

The New York Post reported that a "Saudi national who suffered shrapnel wounds in today's blast" has been identified as "a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing." The Boston PD spokesperson did not confirm that report. 

"Honestly, I don't know where they're getting their information from, but it didn't come from us," said the spokesperson.

Link here.