In the grip of fear

No explosives were found at the home of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last night after a day that saw the city shut down.

While Cambridge and Watertown, two adjoining neighbourhoods north of the city centre, remained tense after a night of frenzied violence, Boston itself was a ghost town for most of the day, though movement restrictions were eased late last night.

Residents woke up to uncertainty, with students being confined in Harvard libraries and entire families removed from their homes by police as a precautionary measure.