President Barack Obama vowed on Monday that the United States would find out who carriedout deadly twin explosions in Boston earlier in the day, and will hold them accountable.
Two explosions hit the Boston Marathon as runners crossed the finish line on Monday, killing at least two people and wounding at least 23 more on a day when tens of thousands of people pack the streets to watch one of the world's best known marathons. The Boston Globe said that more than 100 people had been wounded in the explosions.
"We still do not know who did this or why, and peopleshouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts,"Obama said in a televised statement from the White House. "But make no mistake, wewill get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who didthis, we'll find out why they did this."
Obama said he has directed the federal government toincrease security around the United States as necessary afterthe explosions.Hundreds of thousands of spectators typically line the 26.2 mile (42.19 km) race course, with the heaviest crowds near the finish line. The blasts occurred more than five hours after the start of the race, at a time when most top athletes were off the course but slower amateur marathoners were still running.The Boston Marathon has been held on Patriots Day, the third Monday of April, since 1897. The event, which starts in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ends Boston's Copley Square, attracts an estimated half-million spectators and some 20,000 participants every year.