A wounded spectator sits dazed amid the bloodshed near the finish line yesterday after twin terrorist explosions hit the Boston Marathon. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Glob)
As dozens of unsuspecting marathoners press on toward the finish line, a second blast erupts. (Dan Lampariello/Barcroft Media)
Wearing a foil to keep warm, a marathoner breaks down in tears after yesterday’s madness near Copley Square. (AP)
A first responder in protective suit investigates the exact spot on Boylston Street where one of the two devices detonated. (AP)
GRIM NEWS: President Obama gets an update yesterday as he’s joined by Lisa Monaco — his assistant for homeland security and terrorism — and Chjef of Staff Denis McDonough at the Oval Office. (AFP/Getty Images)
Marathon runner John Ounao (center) weeps as his fear gives way to relief yesterday after he’s reunited with friends amid the mayhem. (AFP/Getty Images)
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Terrorists detonated two shrapnel-packed bombs at the Boston Marathon yesterday, leaving bodies and shredded limbs littering the finish line.
Many victims suffered amputated legs and were pierced with ball bearings and nails — indicating the bombs had been designed to inflict maximum human damage.
The official death toll was three, but a law-enforcement source told The Post it could be as high as 12.
One witness told The New York Times there appeared to be 10 to 12 fatalities, including “women, children, finishers.” The wounds appeared to be “lower torso — the type of stuff you see from someone exploding out,” he said.
The dead included an 8-year-old boy, Martin Richard, whose mom and sister were hurt as they waited for his dad to finish running. Richard’s father, Bill, is a community leader in Dorchester.
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More than 140 injured people were being treated at eight hospitals, with at least 17 in critical condition.
A state trooper at the scene reported more than 25 people with at least one leg missing.
A woman visiting her brother at Brigham Woman’s Hospital in Boston said doctors removed 37 nails that were lodged in the man’s legs from the blast.
A surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital said the most common serious injury was to the bone and tissue of the leg. “Obviously, it’s upsetting to see people coming in so quickly,” Dr. Peter Fagenholz said.
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Among the developments in the hours after the attack:
* Federal sources said a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian national, who was injured by shrapnel, was being questioned by authorities and under heavy guard at a Boston hospital. An apartment in Revere, Mass. — where sources say the suspect lives — was raided by feds yesterday.
* “Make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this,” President Obama said. “Any responsible individual, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.” Later, a White House official said the incident was being treated as an act of terrorism.
* The attacks sent the Dow Jones industrial average plunging 265 points, the worst day on Wall Street in five months.
The two bombs exploded 13 seconds apart and left hundreds of people in tears, some searching for loved ones and trying to comfort the dying.
Boston police initially said a third incident — a fire or explosion — occurred at the JFK Presidential Library at around 4:30 p.m., about an hour and a half after and four miles away from the marathon blasts. But they later indicated that incident was unrelated to the attack.
Police found at least two unexploded bombs near the finish line, and they detonated one safely.
It was reported that the two bombs had been left in trash cans. Such receptacles are normally removed from parade routes and other events as an anti-terror precaution, and law-enforcement sources told The Post it wasn’t clear whether the report indicated a security failing — or if, perhaps, the terrorists had set up their own cans.
Investigators were looking into whether a battery and timers were used on the explosive devices.
Witnesses described a horrific scene of a blood-spattered Boylston Street and dozens of rescue workers rushing injured runners and spectators from the scene.
Boston resident Tony Wrubio was watching from the sidelines when one blast knocked him and his friend to the ground.
“We saw debris flying everywhere. It was just a mad rush of people,” Wrubio told The Post. “I saw people with limbs missing. People just lying in the street, missing limbs.
“There was a kid separated from his mom and I picked up the kid, threw him over my shoulder, and brought him out and gave him to his mom.”
Runner Tim Hare was just a quarter-mile from the finish line when the first blast erupted. He continued to run but stopped after the second went off 10 feet to his left.
“I saw a trash can go up, I saw fire, I saw smoke. I saw what looked like someone hitting the ground,” he said. “I just turned around and ran for my life.”
Monica Pearson, who was being treated in the medical tent after finishing the race but before the blasts, saw mangled spectators being rushed in.
“It was a life-changing experience to see a man come in with no legs,” she said.
Runners walked around with nowhere to go. All nearby hotels were evacuated, and no one was allowed into the Lenox Hotel, the Copley Square Hotel, the Westin, the Copley Fairmont or the Mandarin.
Marathoners were shuttled to Boston Common to look for relatives.
Within hours, Google had set up a page that allowed viewers to seek information about victims or to offer information.
As the race ended in chaos, some of the 26,000 runners were stopped about a mile from the finish line.
Some continued, changed direction to nearby Massachusetts General Hospital to donate blood.
Medics set up an emergency morgue at the finish line.
Many of the injured were taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where Dean Smith, 52, was treated for shrapnel wounds.
“I was there to watch my son run,” Smith said. “The first bomb went off and I said, ‘That’s a bomb,’ and then, all of a sudden, boom! Another one went off.
“My eardrums burst. My wife said I flew five feet.”
The attack came on Patriots Day, a popular holiday in Boston. It was four days before the anniversary of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168.
Organizers of the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, set for Friday, said they planned to go ahead with the race.
In New York City, police deployed anti-terror forces to major landmarks, transportation hubs and other potential targets.
Gov. Cuomo has directed state agencies to be on heightened alert and said the New York National Guard already had three vehicles and six soldiers in Boston.
One law-enforcement source suggested New York might have been the preferred target — and Boston was the alternative.
“Our marathon was canceled in November [by Hurricane Sandy]. This could have been a second choice,” the source said. “
Another source said federal authorities view the bombing as “a more successful version” of the 2010 Times Square attack in which a car bomb failed to detonate.
Obama was cautious in his remarks from the White House three hours after the attack, saying investigators “still do not know who did this or why.”
Adding to the heartbreak, the last mile of the marathon was dedicated to the victims of the Newtown school massacre, and some of their relatives were seated in a VIP section near the finish line.
Additional reporting by Fred Milgrim in Boston and Pedro Oliveira Jr., Josh Margolin, Jamie Schram and Kirstan Conley in NY