Boston Marathon Explosions - Insane

Insane



At least two people have been killed and 23 others hurt after two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, police have said.

There was also a third blast at the JFK library a few miles away but no injuries were reported.

The blasts at the marathon took place about two hours after the winners crossed the line, with one explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish.

Another happened a few seconds later, about 50-100 metres away, believed to be further down the street.

Some runners were making their way across the finish line as the drama unfolded, and TV helicopter footage showed blood on the pavement in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.

Fox News reports authorities are guarding a 'person of interest' in hospital with severe burns.


The injured were treated at the scene
Participants were seen lying on the ground as the explosions tore through the finish line, sending smoke and debris soaring into the air.

A senior US intelligence official said two other explosive devices found nearby were being dismantled.

According to the Boston Marathon website, there were more than 25,000 registered entrants in the race, 374 of whom are British and there were also 108 Irish athletes.

It is not known what caused the blasts but Fox News reported ball bearings were found on the street.

Sky's Mark White said: "The ball bearings are likely to be shrapnel, leading to a growing suspicion the blasts were deliberate."

Some runners who had not finished the race were diverted down Commonwealth Avenue and into a family meeting area, according to an emergency plan.

The Federal Aviation Administration has warned pilots it had created a no-fly zone over the site.

Runners and race volunteers were crying as they fled the chaos. Smoke rose from the explosions, through flags lining the route of the world's oldest and most prestigious marathon.


The blasts happened at the end of the marathon
British police are now reviewing security plans for this Sunday's London Marathon after the US blasts.

Video footage has emerged which appeared to show the moment one of the explosions happened.

Police made their way through competitors as they ran towards the scene, and injured spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for tired runners.

Roupen Bastajian, a 35-year-old state trooper, had just finished the race when he heard the first blast.

"I started running toward the blast. And there were people all over the floor," he said.

"We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs. A lot of people amputated. ... At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing."


A bomb squad officer at the scene
A police officer was taken from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.

"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.

Boston Police have told people to stay at home and avoid large crowds.

The Marathon sports store was reportedly near where one of the blasts took place.

There were two boom sounds heard from inside the Fairmount Copley Plaza Hotel. Race officials locked the building down.

The White House said President Barack Obama has been notified about the explosions.

The administration said it is in contact with state and local authorities and the president told his administration to provide whatever assistance is necessary in the investigation and response.

New York police have stepped up security around key landmarks in the city after the double blasts, a top officer said.

Foreign Secretary William Hague tweeted: "Appalled by news of explosion at Boston marathon. My thoughts are with everyone affected by it and all those waiting for news."

Boston Police said there is a helpline in the US for concerned relatives : 617-635-4500, and anybody with information about the blasts should call 1-800-494-tips.

Young man found dead in the back of a van in Plymstock

A man in his late 20s has been found dead in the back of a van in Plymstock.
Ambulance crews called police to the scene of the unexplained death on Radford Park Road at 4.15pm.



1. Young man found dead in the back of a van in Radford Park Road Plymstock

          ​          

A police spokesman said they were not treating the man's death as suspicious.
He added: "A male was found deceased in a vehicle in Plymstock. Police are looking at this time but it is not deemed to be suspicious."
The man is believed to be local.


 

Bird Flu Insanity (again)

A bird flu virus never before found in humans has grabbed world attention this week after it infected and killed people in China. Scientists have been scrambling to understand how it happened and, more importantly, whether it poses a risk to public health or could potentially spark a global pandemic.
The good news is that so far there's no sign that the H7N9 virus is spreading from person to person, but experts say it has mutated in a way that has left them a bit worried.

Should we be developing more contagious bird flu?

After a one-year break, scientists are set to resume controversial research to create a deadlier, more contagious strain of bird flu.
They argue that their work is essential because it will help us to understand the virus and prevent a catastrophic pandemic. However, others worry that the modified virus could escape from the lab or fall into the hands of terrorists.

The bird flu virus – known by scientists as H5N1 – has so far killed about half of the people that it’s infected. There have been around 600 confirmed cases to date – a sizable number, but by no means a global pandemic. This is because it usually only passes to humans via contact with an infected bird.
However, researchers at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US found that it would only take five to nine mutations in the virus' DNA to allow it to pass easily between humans.

When the results came to light in 2011, the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity asked academic journals to censor the results, claiming that they could be used to create bioweapons. But some scientists saw this as an attack on their academic freedom. They ended up publishing their results, but agreed to suspend the work for a year while a safety review was carried out.

Now, the researchers are set to resume their work, genetically manipulating the virus so that it can spread more easily between mammals. The aim of the research is to understand how changes in the virus might make it more dangerous, helping to foresee a pandemic that could kill millions of people worldwide. But their detractors are yet to be convinced.

“I feel the world is a safer place if we maintain this moratorium,” Prof Robert May from the University of Oxford told BBC News. "These are not bad people, they are good people with good intentions, but they look through rose-coloured glasses at the security of the laboratories."