REUTERS/Dan Lampariello
Fayette Advocate and Highland County Press
Two explosions injured numerous people near the Boston Marathon finish line Monday afternoon.
CBS News reported that one U.S. official said “at least a dozen people were injured with no (immediately) confirmed fatalities.”
WBZ-TV in Boston reported that the medical tent set up near the end of the Boston Marathon course has been filled with many people who have been “gravely injured.”
Greenfield long-distance runner Carol Grate reportedly had entered the 2013 Marathon, but was not in Boston Monday. Grate told Fayette Advocate that she was not in Boston Monday due to illness. The hotel she had booked for the event was close to the finish line, she said.
Grate’s name does appear on the entrants’ listing for this year’s marathon.
Grate was the winner of the 2012 Women’s 5K race during Wright-Patterson’s 16th annual Air Force Marathon.
Grate, 61, works at the Hillsboro Frisch’s restaurant.
As previously reported by The Highland County Press, Grate participated in the Boston Marathon in 2001 and 2006.
Grate started running in marathons when she was 48 years old and has since qualified for the Boston Marathon three times.
Steve Weber, 30, of Columbus, formerly of Hillsboro, participated in the race. He finished just before 2:30 p.m., before the explosions occurred, and is reportedly safe.
According to CBS News, after Monday’s explosions “Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners. …
“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.
“There were two ‘incredibly powerful explosions just seconds apart,’ according to WBZ-TV’s Lis Hughes.”
Preliminary reports indicate at least two deaths and 23 serious injuries from the blasts.
No one has been arrested and the White House official said it would have to be determined whether the attack came from a foreign or domestic source.
Investigators found what could be five additional, undetonated explosive devices around the Boston area, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two unnamed people briefed on the investigation.
Related links: Boston Marathon participants