There have been two explosions near the finish line for the Boston Marathon.
Printable View
There have been two explosions near the finish line for the Boston Marathon.
Some nasty looking images. Hope there's no fatalities (not seen any confirmed yet). EDIT: Seems 2 confirmed dead already :(
I still consider gas explosions the most likely still.
Are you kidding me? At the one place where all of the crowds are? Definitely terrorist. Absolutely awful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
Also, the Globe is reporting they found one or two unexploded devices.
Yeah, just heard that from MSNBC, quoting the Associated Press. Two undetonated bombs have been found, current count is 2 dead and 26 injured.
Coordinated with the bombs in Nasariyah, Kirkuk and Baghdad?
Standard bombs are generally not al-Qaeda's M.O. Al-Qaeda is also pretty good at claiming responsibility. The implication is that this might be a domestic group. This is all early speculation though.
The Iraqi blasts seem to be election-related. Can never discount the connection though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aimless
My mother got to be on TV. She was near the second bomb when it went off. She's fine.
that's pretty badass :up:
Has she been recruited into a special squad to track down the terrorists? :o
I shall run facial recognition software at once, soon your identity shall be revealed to me
I submitted my Geodude work truck to reddit, but it stalled out early on because of the off hour I posted it. Until the bombing reports hit the web, then my entry rocketed to the top of r/gaming and the lower half of the front page of reddit; I'm assuming because of the people who ran to reddit for current information. I shall say a special peace tonight for those that sacrificed life and limb to boost my karma score.
Its twisted, but that's what happened.
Third explosion at JFK Library.
Likely unrelated mechanical room fire.Quote:
Originally Posted by RandBlade
Anyway, first-person footage of the explosions near the finish line: http://bcove.me/qwi5k6ap
Bombing victim
Spoiler:
more possible gore
Spoiler:
The last photo is pretty gruesome and definitely awful/not for queasy, but the guy seems awake and hopefully will make it.
http://gawker.com/5994709/photos-fro...rathon-bombing
Seems you are right. But a trash can at the finish? That's e hard to believe. I haven't seen a trash can in Istanbul anywhere near where people congregrate in like 20 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by wiggin
The US has not in general had to have that kind of security in public spaces; that sort of thing has been a problem in other countries given the modus operandi of groups like the IRA and Hamas, but you can't really stop a 9/11 or an OKC bombing by removing trash cans.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
edit: Although I'm sure plenty of people will find fault with the security (though marathons are notoriously difficult to secure), it does seem like the emergency response was swift and coordinated. The reports I've seen indicate that not only were casualties brought to area hospitals with impressive dispatch, but they were also checked for NBC contamination en route. The city center was swiftly shut down (which was a bit of a pain for getting home, since many of the bridges across the Charles were closed and much of the T system was sidelined), and there was a robust and immediate response by state police and Mass. national guard.
My sister is an ED physician in a major city center, and she's done all sorts of fancy training run by the DHS for these sorts of events (actually, far worse events); crisis response has gotten far more coordinated and sophisticated in the wake of 9/11, and I think that's a good thing. It's pretty much impossible to make impregnable security, but managing the aftereffects can mitigate the damage significantly. Absent shortcomings that may come to light later, I think they did a decent job of handling the crisis.
Of course, I'm not looking forward to commuting for the next few weeks... There's going to be the usual security theater. Bleh.
Awful. :(
What kind of mind wants this.
I believe that this is the first successful terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11? :(
What's odd is that nobody has "claimed credit" for it yet, the Islamic terrorist groups are normally quite quick at doing so nowadays. What's really twisted is that 2 bombs and 3 dead, those responsible may be feeling disappointed :eek:
:(
Ps rand: anthrax attacks, fort hood,
and I think a few anti abortion attacks and a few neonazi ones against, IIRC, Jews and Sikh. Probably some eco terrorism, too.
Was trying to remember who it was that bombed the Atlanta Olympics in '96. That was a domestic group.
Wasn't that a lone guy?
ex cop, one guy. bombed a few other places too.
Like the Unabomber. Most American attacks I can think of have been a lone nutter.
runs create a lot of trash. cups, towels, disposable foil blankets, those nutrition packets people suck on. The bombs were timed to go off during the average finishing time, so I don't see how there was anyway to not congregate around the trash cans at the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
He could have created a lot more damage if he had bombed the start line, or activated the bombs during the first couple of finishers, when people were still at the line watching. As it went down, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, even as terrorist attacks go.
Runs create more trash than a city trash can could cope with. I consider trash cans a security risk under the best of circumstances, and I would have had them removed at a place like the finish line of a marathon. Call me whatever you want, but they make great places for bombs to be hid in a near undetectable way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer
whatever would have replaced the trash cans would have just as easily held a bomb.
Cans are usually brought in for events like this. hence why so many videos show the explosions so close together. cities aren't normally blanketed in cans.
No, a plastic bag is a lot less of a convenient storage for a bomb. Regular trash removal is the only safe way to deal with trash at a public gathering. I don't know how many people walk through Istiklal Caddesi in Istanbul on a busy saturday, but it wouldn't surprise me if we're talking numbers exceeding 1m. Over the entire length of that street there are 2 points where you will find a plastic bag trash collection point. Both sitting under a camera. Where there are no camera's there is no collection point; there is a 24 hours sweeping service though to keep the street clean. Most people just throw things on the street, typically what you threw is swept up within 5 minutes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer
Turkey of course has learned the dangers of trash cans the hard way. As it has of un-supervised luggage and the likes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hood_shootingQuote:
Originally Posted by RandBlade
you're thinking we use actual cans, like metal cylinder cans?Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazir
no, events like this use plastic trash receptacles, collapsible designs that you're more likely to associate with ikea laundry bins, or cardboard frames with plastic bags.
It's refreshing to go to American cities and have trash receptacles available as a norm. I'm happy for those across the pond not to have had to learn the hard way to have to remove them. It's really irritating here how few bins are available - though hardly a surprise - even my tiny hometown was bombed by the IRA with 2 kids killed by a bomb in the town centre. The bins weren't replaced and aren't there anymore. :(
I hope this never becomes a regular occurrence for Americans, just as I'd hope its history for us now.
Agreed on the irritation. I think that lack of abundant trash/recycling receptacles is a big contributor to litter... though obviously I understand the security imperatives.
The T was an armed camp today. Blech. Hoping it settles down soon, though there's still 12 blocks near downtown cordoned off. At least the bridges are open.
According to the AP, the items weren't hiding in trash cans
"The explosives were in 6-liter pressure cookers and placed in black duffel bags. The bombs were placed on the ground and contained shards of metal, nails and ball bearings,"
Sick or evil? :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Timbuk2
Seems April is a bad month for horrible events in the US. Since they chose Patriot Day and Tax Day, that makes me think it's a domestic group or individual. They obviously knew enough about the marathon to time it for when large groups of runners and spectators were at the finish line. I'm speculating, but the types of bombs used were designed to inflict maximum damage (with low flying shrapnel), but not necessarily immediate death....since they had to know the medical tents and EMS personnel were there too, and not far from great trauma hospitals.
:mad:
This is a standard Palestinian practice; not that I think a Palestinian group is responsible. Outside chance of this being some Pakistani; the London bombers did something similar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer
So far, all it points to is someone knew how to use Google to make pressure-cooker shrapnel bombs....with enough knowledge about pre-marathon bomb sweeps to place them just afterward....and how to hide in plain sight. That's about it.
Wow, the intarwebs and social media have already moved to the judicial process, and how to treat a "foreigner" differently (harsher) than "citizens". :sour:
Maximum damage yeah but I don't know about "not necessarily immediate death." The power of the devices was rather limited and it's possible they might not have killed anyone if the explosion itself was the only source of harm. It was probably the only way to be sure of causing any appreciable human harm without a bigger/more powerful bomb which might have been detected ahead of time.Quote:
Originally Posted by GGT
