Photo Credit: REUTERS/Neal Hamberg
(Editor’s Note: Please be advised this story contains graphic material that may upset some readers)
By Scott Malone and Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON (Reuters) – A pressure cooker stuffed with gunpowder and shrapnel caused at least one of the blasts at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured 176 others in the worst attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001, law enforcement sources said on Tuesday.
President Barack Obama called the two bombings on the marathon finish line an “act of terror” and police said parts of the center of Boston could be closed for days as they investigated the blasts that caused several people to lose limbs.
“When these kids came in … they were just so badly hurt, just covered with singed hair and in so much pain, it was just gut-wrenching,” said David Mooney, the director of the trauma program at Boston Children’s Hospital. “Pulling nails out of a little girl’s flesh is just awful.”
At least 10 people had limbs amputated as a result of their injuries, officials at hospitals said.
The youngest to die in the attacks was an 8-year-old boy. His family identified him in a statement as Martin Richard, who lived in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood. Outside the family’s home, sympathizers created a makeshift memorial of flowers and “Peace” was written in chalk on the sidewalk…
At least one bomb, and possibly both, were built using pressure cookers as the superstructure, black powder or gunpowder as the explosive and ball bearings as additional shrapnel, according to current and former counter-terrorism officials briefed on the matter.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, said instructions on how to design such bombs are available on the Internet.
Reuters has the full article
