Several amputations performed on Boston blast victims

“Several amputations” had to be performed on victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, Massachusetts General Hospital has said.

The blast left at least three people dead, including an eight-year-old boy. More than 140 other people were injured.

Kevin Cullen, a reporter with the Boston Globe newspaper, spoke to a fire-fighter who attended the scene.

He says the sister of the boy who died has lost her leg and her mother is in surgery.

The attack may have been timed for maximum carnage: The four-hour mark is typically a crowded time near the finish line because of the slow-but-steady recreational runners completing the race and because of all the friends and relatives clustered around to cheer them on.

Doctor Peter Fagenholz says there are many shrapnel injuries, but he could not confirm if the devices were deliberately packed with ball-bearings or nails.

“There’s a lot of small metal debris,” he said.

“Some people have asked already about whether these were bb’s (ball-bearings) or parts of bombs and I just don’t think we’re able to say whether these were small bits of metal placed there intentionally, or whether they were just part of the environment.”

Horrifying images of injured spectators and blood-spattered pavements were caught as television cameras broadcast footage of the explosions.

Participants were also seen lying on the ground as the impact tore through the finish line, sending smoke and debris soaring into the air.

Emergency workers ripped away fencing as others carried injured men and women from the scene.

Ed Davis, the city’s Police Commissioner, said there had been two “simultaneous explosions” near the finish line of the 26.2-mile event.

“Each scene resulted in multiple casualties,” he told a press conference.

The first explosion occurred just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. The second explosion could be heard a few seconds later.

As many as two unexploded bombs were also found near the end of the course as part of what appeared to be a well-co-ordinated attack, but they were safely disarmed, according to a senior US intelligence official.