BOSTON: FBI agents zeroed in on how the Boston Marathon bombing was carried out — with kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and other lethal shrapnel — but said they still didn’t know who did it and why.
An intelligence bulletin issued to law enforcement and released late Tuesday includes a picture of a mangled pressure cooker and a torn black bag the Federal Bureau of Investigation says were part of a bomb.
The FBI and other prominent law enforcement agencies repeatedly pleaded for members of the public to come forward with photos, videos or anything suspicious they might have seen or heard.
President Barack Obama branded the attack an act of terrorism but said officials don’t know “whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization, foreign or domestic, or was the act of a malevolent individual.”
Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge in Boston, said at a news conference that the “range of suspects and motives remains wide open.” He vowed to “go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects who are responsible for this despicable crime.”
Scores of victims of the Boston bombing remained in hospitals, many with grievous injuries, a day after the twin explosions near the marathon’s finish line killed three people, wounded more than 170 and reawakened fears of terrorism. A 9-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy were among 17 victims listed in critical condition.
Heightening jitters in Washington, where security already had been tightened after the bombing, a letter addressed to a senator and poisoned with ricin or a similarly toxic substance was intercepted at a mail facility outside the capital, lawmakers said.
There was no immediate indication the episode was related to the Boston attack. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the letter was sent to Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
Officials found that the bombs in Boston consisted of explosives put in ordinary, 1.6-gallon (6-liter) pressure cookers, one with shards of metal and ball bearings, the other with nails, according to a person close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe was still going on.
Both bombs were stuffed into black duffel bags and left on the ground, the person said.
DesLauriers confirmed that investigators had found pieces of black nylon from a bag or backpack and fragments of BBs and nails, possibly contained in a pressure cooker. He said the items were sent to the FBI laboratory at Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.
The FBI said it is looking at what Boston television station WHDH said are photos sent by a viewer that show the scene right before and after the bombs went off. The photo shows something next to a mailbox that appears to be a bag, but it’s unclear what the significance is.
“We’re taking a look at hundreds of photos and that’s one of them,” said Jason Pack, FBI spokesman in Boston.
Investigators said they have not yet determined what was used to set off the explosives.
Pressure-cooker explosives have been used in international terrorism, and have been recommended for lone-wolf operatives by Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen.
But information on how to make the bombs is readily found online, and US officials said Americans should not rush to judgment in linking the attack to overseas terrorists.
DesLauriers said there had been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
He urged people to come forward with anything suspicious, such as hearing someone express an interest in explosives or a desire to attack the marathon, seeing someone carrying a dark heavy bag at the race, or hearing mysterious explosions recently.
“Someone knows who did this,” the FBI agent said.
The bombs exploded 10 or more seconds apart, tearing off victims’ limbs and spattering streets with blood, instantly turning the festive race into a hellish scene of confusion, horror and heroics.
The blasts killed 8-year-old Martin Richard, of Boston, and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, of Medford, Massachusetts. The Shenyang Evening News, a state-run Chinese newspaper, identified the third victim as Lu Lingzi from the northeastern Chinese city. She was a graduate student at Boston University
The Chinese Consulate in New York said in a statement Tuesday that another Chinese citizen was wounded and was in stable condition following surgery.
Doctors who treated the wounded corroborated reports that the bombs were packed with shrapnel intended to cause mayhem.
“One of the sickest things for me was just to see nails sticking out of a little girl’s body,” said Dr. David Mooney, director of the trauma center at Boston Children’s Hospital.
At Massachusetts General Hospital, all four amputations performed there were above the knee, with no hope of saving more of the legs, said Dr. George Velmahos, chief of trauma surgery.
“It wasn’t a hard decision to make,” he said. “We just completed the ugly job that the bomb did.”
Obama plans to visit Boston on Thursday to attend an interfaith service in honor of the victims. He has traveled four times to cities reeling from mass violence, most recently in December after the schoolhouse shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
In the wake of the attack, security was stepped up around the White House and across the country. Police massed at federal buildings and transit centers in Washington, critical response teams deployed in New York City, and security officers with bomb-sniffing dogs spread through Chicago’s Union Station.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that the stepped-up security was a precaution and that there was no evidence the bombings were part of a wider plot.
Pressure-cooker explosives have been used in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to a July 2010 intelligence report by the FBI and the Homeland Security Department. One of the three devices used in the May 2010 Times Square attempted bombing was a pressure cooker, the report said.
“Placed carefully, such devices provide little or no indication of an impending attack,” the report said.
The Pakistani Taleban, which claimed responsibility for the 2010 attempt in Times Square, has denied any part in the Boston Marathon attack.
Al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen gave a detailed description of how to make a bomb using a pressure cooker in a 2010 issue of Inspire, its English-language online publication aimed at would-be terrorists acting alone.
In a chapter titled “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom,” it says “the pressurized cooker is the most effective method” for making a simple bomb, and it provides directions.
Naser Jason Abdo, a former US soldier, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being convicted of planning to use a pair of bombs made from pressure cookers in an attack on a Texas restaurant frequented by soldiers from Fort Hood. He was found with the Inspire article.
Investigators in the Boston bombing are also combing surveillance tapes from businesses around the finish line and asking travelers at Logan Airport to share any photos or video that might help.
“This is probably one of the most photographed areas in the country yesterday,” said Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis. He said two security sweeps of the marathon route had been conducted before the bombing.
Boston police and firefighter unions announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to arrests.
Pressure-cooker bombs suspected in Boston blast
Pressure-cooker bombs suspected in Boston blast
Rescuers scour buildings after Air India plane crash kills over 240
- Only one passenger survived after the plane crashed onto a medical college hostel during lunch hour
- Parts of the plane’s fuselage were scattered around the smoldering building into which it crashed
AHMEDABAD, India: Rescuers searched for missing people and aircraft debris in charred buildings in Ahmedabad on Friday after more than 240 people were killed in an Air India Boeing 787 crash, and as local media reported that India was considering grounding the airline’s 787 fleet for safety checks.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 242 people on board bound for Gatwick Airport south of London took off over a residential area and disappeared from view before a huge fireball was seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses, CCTV footage showed.
Only one passenger survived after the plane crashed onto a medical college hostel during lunch hour, with local media reporting as many as 24 people on the ground were also killed. Reuters could not immediately verify the number.
Rescue workers had completed combing the crash site and were now searching for missing people and bodies in the buildings as well as for aircraft parts that could help explain why the plane crashed soon after taking off.
Local media reported that one of two black boxes from the 787 had been found. Reuters could not verify the reports, which also did not say whether it was the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder that had been recovered.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed by officials on the progress of rescue operations when he visited the crash site in his home state of Gujarat on Friday. Modi also met some of the injured being treated in hospital.
“The scene of devastation is saddening,” he said in a post on X.
Residents living in the vicinity said that construction of the hostel for resident doctors was completed only a year ago and the buildings were not fully occupied.
“We were at home and heard a massive sound, it appeared like a big blast. We then saw very dark smoke which engulfed the entire area,” said 63-year-old Nitin Joshi, who has been living in the area for more than 50 years.
Parts of the plane’s fuselage were scattered around the smoldering building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was wedged on top of the building.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources, that an investigation into the crash was focusing on “whether the aircraft had a loss or reduction in engine thrust.”
India’s NDTV reported that New Delhi was considering grounding Air India’s Dreamliner fleet for safety checks. Air India has more than 30 Dreamliners that include the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 versions.
Modern, wide-body jet
It was the first crash for the Dreamliner since the wide-body jet began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said.
Air India, Boeing and India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the NDTV report on the possible grounding of the fleet.
The lone survivor, a British national, told Indian media how he had heard a loud noise shortly after Flight AI171 took off.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he is in touch with foreign ministers of Britain, Portugal and Canada after citizens from their countries were killed in the crash.
Global leaders have expressed their condolences, including China’s President Xi Jinping who sent his message to India’s president, prime minister and Britain’s King Charles on Friday.
The passengers included 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
Air India has said the investigation would take time. Planemaker Boeing has said a team of experts is ready to go to India to help in the probe.
Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer, said on Thursday the death toll was more than 240, revising down a previous toll of 294 because it included body parts that had been counted twice.
“Almost 70 percent of the passengers were found in their seats, most of them had their seatbelts on,” a first responder told local newspaper Indian Express.
The last fatal plane crash in India, the world’s third-largest aviation market and its fastest-growing, was in 2020 and involved Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost arm.
In an unrelated incident, an Air India flight from Phuket in Thailand headed to Delhi made an emergency landing on Friday after a bomb threat was received on board, airport authorities said.
Indian conglomerate Tata Group took control of the formerly state-owned Air India in 2022, and merged it with Vistara — a joint venture between the group and Singapore Airlines – last year.
Air India flight makes emergency landing in Thailand after bomb threat; all passengers off plane
- Indian airlines, airports received nearly 1,000 hoax calls and messages in first 10 months of 2024
- Incident follows Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, which killed over 240 people
BANGKOK: An Air India flight from Phuket in Thailand to India’s capital New Delhi received an onboard bomb threat on Friday and made an emergency landing on the island, airport authorities said.
All 156 passengers on flight AI 379 had been escorted from the plane, in line with emergency plans, an Airports of Thailand official said.
The aircraft took off from Phuket airport bound for the Indian capital at 9.30 a.m. (0230 GMT) on Friday, but made a wide loop around the Andaman Sea and landed back on the southern Thai island, according to flight tracker Flightradar24.
The incident follows the crash of an Air India flight in Ahmedabad on Thursday shortly after takeoff, in which more than 240 people were killed.
AOT did not provide details on the bomb threat. Air India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indian airlines and airports were inundated with hoax bomb threats last year, with nearly 1,000 hoax calls and messages received in the first 10 months, nearly 10 times that of 2023.
Mexican citizen dies in US immigration detention center
- The man died on June 7 at an ICE facility in the southern state of Georgia
- US authorities notified the Mexican consulate in Georgia’s capital Atlanta of the death
MEXICO CITY: A Mexican citizen died in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center from undetermined circumstances, Mexico’s foreign ministry has said.
The death comes amid ongoing demonstrations in several US states, most prominently in California, against immigration enforcement raids launched by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
The man died on June 7 at an ICE facility in the southern state of Georgia, where he was being held after he was transferred from a state prison, the foreign ministry said in a statement Thursday.
US authorities notified the Mexican consulate in Georgia’s capital Atlanta of the death.
“Consular staff has established communication with local and ICE authorities, as well as with the individual’s family members, to clarify the facts, confirm the official cause of death, and provide legal advice and support to the family,” the ministry said.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said consular staff had not been notified to interview the detainee while he was in custody, despite regular visits to the facility to assist Mexican nationals.
“The consulate has requested an explanation from the (detention) center’s authorities,” the ministry said.
It also said it was examining legal options and maintaining communication with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the state’s independent investigative body.
Japan ‘strongly condemns’ Israel’s attack on Iran
TOKYO: Japan has joined in the condemnation of Israel’s attack on Iran with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya saying the attack “escalates the situation” in the Middle East, Japan’s Foreign Ministry reported.
“We deeply regret that military force was used despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, including talks between the US and Iran, to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue,” Iwaya said. “Our country strongly condemns this action, which escalates the situation.”
Iwaya emphasized that peace and stability in the Middle East are “extremely important” to Japan and urged all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint.
He called for de-escalation of the situation, adding that the Japanese government will spare no effort to protect Japanese nationals residing in the region.
“We will continue to take all necessary measures to prevent further deterioration of the situation,” he said.
Pakistan, other nuclear states together spent $100 billion on weapons in 2024 — report
- US spent $56.8 billion in 2024, followed by China at $12.5 billion, says International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
- ICAN says level of nuclear weapons spending in 2024 by these nine nations could have paid UN budget almost 28 times over
GENEVA: Nuclear-armed states spent more than $100 billion on their atomic arsenals last year, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said Friday, lamenting the lack of democratic oversight of such spending.
ICAN said Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States together spent nearly $10 billion more than in 2023.
The United States spent $56.8 billion in 2024, followed by China at $12.5 billion and Britain at $10.4 billion, ICAN said in its flagship annual report.
Geneva-based ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its key role in drafting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which took effect in 2021.
Some 69 countries have ratified it to date, four more have directly acceded to the treaty and another 25 have signed it, although none of the nuclear weapons states have come on board.
This year’s report looked at the costs incurred by the countries that host other states’ nuclear weapons.
It said such costs are largely unknown to citizens and legislators alike, thereby avoiding democratic scrutiny.
Although not officially confirmed, the report said Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkiye were hosting US nuclear weapons, citing experts.
Meanwhile Russia claims it has nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus, but some experts are unsure, it added.
The report said there was “little public information” about the costs associated with hosting US nuclear weapons in NATO European countries, citing the cost of facility security, nuclear-capable aircraft and preparation to use such weapons.
“Each NATO nuclear-sharing arrangement is governed by secret agreements,” the report said.
“It’s an affront to democracy that citizens and lawmakers are not allowed to know that nuclear weapons from other countries are based on their soil or how much of their taxes is being spent on them,” said the report’s co-author Alicia Sanders-Zakre.
Eight countries openly possess nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan and North Korea.
Israel is widely assumed to have nuclear weapons, although it has never officially acknowledged this.
ICAN said the level of nuclear weapons spending in 2024 by these nine nations could have paid the UN budget almost 28 times over.
“The problem of nuclear weapons is one that can be solved, and doing so means understanding the vested interests fiercely defending the option for nine countries to indiscriminately murder civilians,” said ICAN’s program coordinator Susi Snyder.
The private sector earned at least $42.5 billion from their nuclear weapons contracts in 2024 alone, the report said.
There are at least $463 billion in ongoing nuclear weapons contracts, some of which do not expire for decades, and last year, at least $20 billion in new nuclear weapon contracts were awarded, it added.
“Many of the companies that benefited from this largesse invested heavily in lobbying governments, spending $128 million on those efforts in the United States and France, the two countries for which data is available,” ICAN said.
Standard nuclear doctrine — developed during the Cold War between superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union — is based on the assumption that such weapons will never have to be used because their impact is so devastating, and because nuclear retaliation would probably bring similar destruction on the original attacker.
