Worldwide consternation after the boston attack: the explosion of two bombs at the traditional marathon in the u.S. Eastern coastal city showed how ruthlessly terror can strike at any time. The blasts had claimed the lives of three people and injured 176 others on monday afternoon. Perpetrator and motive were still unknown on tuesday. The weibe haus called it an act of terrorism, investigators say they are "following a mountain of evidence" according to. Politicians and athletes around the world reacted with concern.
This was the first deadly bombing in the U.S. Since the terrorist attacks of 11. September 2001. The eight-year-old boy whose mother and six-year-old sister were seriously injured also lost his life. A total of 17 injured were still in critical condition on tuesday. Doctors at massachusetts general hospital found "sharp objects" in the legs of many victims like nail. It was probable that the objects came from the bombs. Germans were not harmed according to the foreign office.
Foreign or domestic terrorists?
U.S. President barack obama spoke of a tragedy and ordered flags on public buildings in the country to be flown at half-mast until saturday evening: "we'll find out who did this. We will hold them accountable", he announced in washington. A spokesman for the weiben house said: "any incident involving multiple explosive devices – as it appears in this case – is clearly an act of terrorism and will be treated as an act of terrorism.". It remains to be determined whether the attack on patriot's day, a holiday in the state of massachusetts, was the work of foreign nationals or of local terrorists go.
Rick deslauriers of the federal bureau of investigation told a press conference of "very active" security investigations and at the same time stressed that there were no further threats of. He declined to give details of the investigation. He also did not comment on reports that an injured young student from saudi arabia was being held and guarded by police at the hospital.
No other explosives found
According to massachusetts governor deval patrick, no other explosives were planted in the attack beyond the two bombs that went off. Initially, there had been media reports that two or three more bombs may have been discovered, which fortunately had not worked.
On TV stations, experts have suggested that this was probably not an act of international terrorism. The attack was apparently carefully planned, but the explosives were not very sophisticated. Otherwise, there had been far more fatalities.
The explosives were detonated at 14.50 a.M. Local time, detonated within 12 seconds of the finish line, which had been crossed hours earlier by the first runners. "I hoard two very loud explosions", reported an eyewitness. "Boston globe"-photographer john tlumacki told cnn: "i saw legs torn off, fists torn off, people running on people." german marathon runner sabrina mockenhaupt from victory country was already 200 meters away from the scene of the explosion in the hotel under the shower at the time of the explosion. She said: "unbelievable. Unbelievable. I am totally shocked."
Shortly after the explosions, authorities temporarily shut down the cellular network in boston to prevent possible remote detection of further explosives. The airspace above the 625th parallel was also cleared.000 inhabitant city was closed in the meantime. Security has also been tightened in other major U.S. Cities.
International reactions
UN secretary-general ban ki moon condemned the "senseless violence". Kremlin leader vladimir putin spoke of a barbaric crime and called for active coordination of the global anti-terrorism fight. German chancellor angela merkel (cdu) expressed hope that the culprits would soon be brought to justice. Pope francis said in rome he was deeply saddened by the "senseless tragedy. NATO secretary general anders fogh rasmussen, EU council president herman van rompuy and british prime minister david cameron also reacted with shock. There was a moment of silence on wall street shortly before the markets opened on tuesday morning.
Pakistani taliban deny any involvement. Pakistani taliban spokesman ehsanullah ehsan told the dpa news agency: "we do not know who carried out the attack and what was the intention behind it." the tehrik-e-taliban pakistan (TTP had taken responsibility for a failed car bombing in new york's times square in 2010, and the u.S. Threatened with attacks.
Since the attacks of 11. September 2001, major sporting events in the USA take place under the strictest precautions. Boston marathon is one of the most popular races on the american east coast. This year, the last mile of the boston marathon was dedicated to the victims of the newtown rampage, where 20 children and six of their caregivers were shot dead in an elementary school in december.
Security at other sporting events
The federal ministry of the interior does not see an increased danger of terrorism for germany: the security situation is unchanged, said a ministry spokesman, germany is still in the crosshairs of international terrorism.
The organizers of major events such as the marathons in london and berlin, the world athletics championships in moscow, and the 2016 olympic games in rio announced a review of their security concepts. Both london and hamburg have marathons scheduled for next sunday, which will take place as planned.