Medical workers aid an injured woman at the scene of a bomb blast near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following an explosion in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013. Two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring at scores of others.Charles Krupa/The Associated Press
Canadians in Boston Monday described shocking scenes in the wake of the twin explosions near the finish line.
"There are people who are really, really bloody," said Laura McLean, a runner from Toronto, who was in the medical tent being treated for dehydration when she was pulled out to make room for victims of the explosions. "They were pulling them into the medical tent."
Canadian runner Robin Watson finished 11th in the men's race. He described the scene of the explosion to the Globe's Laura Hubbard "It sounded like thunder, but it was a calm, clear day. I thought that was odd to hear, but then we heard another loud one," he said. "I knew it was louder than a car crash and it was something significant. I just didn't know what."
Mr. Watson said marathon staff and hotel personnel were very accommodating, and moved the athletes and their families upstairs to account for everyone. He said everyone was checking their phones and Twitter – before cellphone service in the city was shut down – and there were almost immediate reports of what had happened.
Ottawa resident Guy Doucet was waiting for his wife to cross the finish line when he heard the first explosion and saw a plume of white smoke before being rocked by a second explosion about a few seconds later.
"People started running in the opposite direction, I just followed," he said. "My main worry was seeing if my wife was OK...the last runner told my wife that she finished 38 sec after the bombs went off."
Corinne Gable of Kelowna, B.C., told CKFR she had just finished the race when she heard a loud boom down the street near the finish line.
"We heard this big bang and we turned our heads and we saw this big puff of smoke and then like 10 seconds later there was another one and everybody just kind of stopped in their shoes and just kind of looked at each other in panic," she said.
"The first thing that went through my head was the Trade Centers, another, you know, terrorist attack."
With reports from Canadian Press