A US Capitol Police K-9 team works at the entrance of the Capitol South Metro station during rush hour near the US Captiol in Washington, DC, yesterday.
BOSTON: President Barack Obama called the Boston Marathon bombings an “act of terror” yesterday and investigators said no additional explosive devices have been found other than two that detonated near the finish line, a development that could complicate the case.
Law enforcement officials, who asked the public to turn over any photos or video of Monday’s marathon and the blasts, did not disclose any possible leads in the investigation. No one has been arrested, police said.
Late on Monday, police searched a Boston area apartment of a Saudi Arabian student who was injured in the blast, law enforcement sources said. But they said evidence showed that the student was expected to be cleared of suspicion and that he was unlikely to shed any light on the attack.
Numerous other theories and leads in the investigation are being looked at, according to the same sources, who asked not to be identified.
Current and former counter-terrorism officials said that the Boston bombs were built using pressure cookers as the superstructure, black powder or gunpowder as the explosive and ball bearings as additional shrapnel. The officials said that instructions on how to design such bombs are available on the Internet.
Obama, in an appearance in the White House briefing room, said it was not yet clear who carried out the twin blasts that killed three people and sent 176 to hospitals with injuries, 17 critical.
“Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror,” Obama said. “What we don’t yet know, however, is who carried out this attack or why, whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organisation — foreign or domestic — or was the act of a malevolent individual.”
Dispelling earlier reports of as many as seven devices being found around Boston, Gene Marquez, Assistant Special Agent in charge for the U S Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said authorities had determined that the only bombs deployed in the attack were the two that detonated shortly before 3pm EDT (1900 GMT) on Monday.
Any unexploded device might have provided a clearer picture of what materials were used and how the bomb was assembled, furnishing leads in the case.
“This will be a worldwide investigation,” said Rick DesLauriers, head of the FBI’s Boston office.
“We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects responsible for this despicable crime,” he added. “We are using full capacities of the FBI, to its fullest worldwide extent.”
Meanwhile, a stretch of Boylston Street near the race’s finish line, where the blasts occurred, and the blocks around it were closed to traffic as police searched for evidence.
A banner that had marked the finish line still hung over the deserted street.
Responding to the worst attack on US soil since security was tightened after the September 11, 2001 hijacked plane strikes, Obama urged Americans to be vigilant.
The US was clearly on heightened alert yesterday.
At Boston Logan International Airport, two passengers and their bags were removed from a United Airlines flight before departure yesterday morning, a source with direct knowledge of the action said.
Meanwhile, a US Airways plane arriving at Logan from Philadelphia was parked in a corner of the airport while a suspicious bag was inspected, airport officials said. The bag was later found to be harmless.
In New York, bomb squad investigators were called in and the central terminal of La Guardia International Airport was evacuated after authorities discovered a suspicious package at around 10.30am EDT (1430 GMT) in the terminal, authorities said.
Trauma surgeons at several Boston hospitals said at press briefings the majority of victims suffered lower-body injuries, and several had a range of metallic shrapnel material removed during surgery, including pellets and what appeared to be carpenter nails. “The vast majority of the injuries were to lower extremities, including some victims who had parts of their legs blown off,” said Dr. Tracey Dechert, a trauma surgeon at Boston Medical Center, which treated 23 people and performed amputations on five of them.
An 8-year-old boy was among the dead. He was identified as Martin Richard in a statement issued by his father, Bill Richard.
Outside the family home in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, people left flowers on the doorstep and someone had written “peace” in chalk on the sidewalk. “All of Dorchester is devastated. The whole world is devastated,” said Jane Sherman, who lives next door. “I don’t know if there are any words I can say. I don’t know if there’s anything anyone can say.”
Agencies
