The terrible toll of the Boston Marathon bombing
At least 176 people were injured and three died
Now that the sirens have died down, details about the aftermath of the bombings at the Boston Marathon are starting to solidify. We now know that one of the three people killed was Martin Richard, an 8-year-old boy from Dorchester who died while cheering for his father, according to The Boston Globe. His mother and sister were also injured in the attack.
"That little boy will never come home again," Dan Aguilar, neighbor to the Richard family, told The Boston Globe. "It's still unreal. I have no words. I have no words."
At least 176 people were injured in the bombings, with at least 17 of them in critical condition. Eight are children, according to CNN.com.
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The New York Times' Tim Rohan points out that the bombings seemed to be timed for when the highest concentration of runners would be passing the finish line. Last year, 42 percent of all Boston Marathon runners finished within the 30-minute window before and after the time the bombs went off on Monday, which is also when many spectators come to cheer their friends and family on.
Liz Norden, a mother of five from Wakefield, Mass., realized that something was wrong when her 31-year-old son called and told her, "Ma, I'm hurt real bad," according to NBCNews.com. Her two sons JP and Paul, 33 and 31 years old, respectively, both lost a leg from the knee down. They were there to support their friend, firefighter Mike Jefferson, who was a quarter of a mile from the finish line when the bombs exploded.
Most of the injuries were to people's legs. Spectators rather than runners suffered the majority of the injuries, reports The Huffington Post. Alasdair Conn, chief of emergency services at Massachusetts General, told the AP:
Doctors at the hospital have said they conducted four amputations and expect to do more, according to The Atlantic. It remains unclear whether the shrapnel found in victims was intentional (e.g. pellets or nails placed in a bomb) or created by the force of the explosions.
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Keith Wagstaff is a staff writer at TheWeek.com covering politics and current events. He has previously written for such publications as TIME, Details, VICE, and the Village Voice.
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