for us right now. we'll be back at 11:00. >> for bob and mark, i'm denise koch. thanks for watching wjz. now >> pelley: there was chaos at the finish line. >> it's so terrifying. it's so scary. and there was smoke and glass everywhere. >> pelley: at least two are dead, many dozens hurt. >> this is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. iterrible day. witnesses say it sounded like thunder, two bombs went off as dozens of runners were crossing the finish line at the boston marathon today. one explosion near the reviewing dtand at the finish line injured

tystanders knocked many runners off their feet, and seconds later, another blast about two blocks away. at least two people are dead, although that number is expected to change opinion dozens more, more than 50, have been hurt, some of them critically. rescuers pulled the injured away in wheelchairs. boston police have urged people to go home and avoid large crowds just to be safe. the attack came at the end of the boston marathon, a grueling 26-mile race from hopkinton, massachusetts, to downtown boston, ending on boylston street where the explosions occurred. we have a team of correspondents ndvering every angle of this attack and we'll begin tonight with terrell brown in boston. >> reporter: scott, boston police have sealed off the streets here in the city of boston, and many of the people that you see walk around, we've seen runners here, we see spectators as well, many people standing around just searching

for answers, still at this point. police vehicles driving up and down the streets here. we've seen swat teams and also hving around, helicopters hovering around overhead. we're actually three blocks away right now from where the initial peneosion, that first explosion happened. ( explosion ) ( screams ) >> reporter: the explosion went off at the most crowded thet of the race, 12 seconds later, there was a second explosion just a couple blocks away. >> it's so terrifying. it's so scary. and it was so loud. >> i just walked away teen feet away, 20 feet, and a bomb went off. and it knocked me to the ground. and then, you know, everybody started running, panicking. >> reporter: jonathan elias from cbs boston station wbz was nearby. >> run over there and there are body parts.

eeople have been blown apart. >> multiple people down here, okay. stdon't know what the cause, is standby. >> reporter: police rush to victims tangled in debris have broken glass, some missing limbs. bloody spectators were carried into the medical tent set up to care for the runners. >> there were some bad-look, people and i'm praying for all of them. we are all trying to put oressure on all the wounds for everybody, tourniquets and whatever we could do. it was chaos. >> reporter: reporters were directed away from the chaos and people were ordered to stay dlear of trash cans. >> we need more ambulances down at this location, okay? >> yes, sir, they've been notified. they were on the way. e have ever unit possible going, sir. >> reporter: edward davis is the boston police commissioner. >> people should be calm but they should understand this is an ongoing event and they should understand we need all the information that we can get available to us. >> reporter: police are not describing the nature of the bomb or giving any specifics at

this point, scott, or whether shrapnel was involved. >> pelley: terrell, thank you very much. boston police told us they believe there were at least yhree bombs, two that exploded, one they discovered unexploded and defused. john miller, former assistant director of the f.b.i., is our senior correspondent. you have been talking to your law enforcement source all afternoon. john, what do you know? >> reporter: well, there is an individual who is in custody. now, i want to proceed very carefully from here on out. these custody, which means he's not free to go. he's not under arrest. he's not charged. le is a saudi national who was near the scene of the blast. when the blast happened, he began to run. now, in context, a lot of people ilgan to run. a civilian, who thought that ndis individual was acting suspiciously, chased him down and tackled him and turned him over to boston police saying i saw this guy hanging around over there acting suspiciously and then he ran.

that may mean a lot. it may mean nothing at all. but authorities i have spoken to, sources who are being briefed on this say he's being fully cooperative. he's denying any involve independent this act. >> pelley: so this has been three hours that this has happened, a lot of things are going to be thrown out the window, in terms of leads, as we s forward. the president said we don't know who did this, whether it was foreign or domestic. >> reporter: right. thd i mean that is to clarify all these report wiers seeing in the media about a suspect in custody. it's too early to call him a suspect. >> pelley: what is the f.b.i. doing on the ground based on your experience right now? >> reporter: well, i've spoken to people up there, and they are pulling this together. so this will be an f.b.i. lead. they will be assist bide the ana fide p.d., and the massachusetts state police and the entire intelligence community. the case will be run out of the joint terrorism task force, which combineses all the agencies in the boston area. the special agent in charge, rick deloria will have the point. it will be monitored very closely by director john mueller

and his counter-terrorism team at headquarters and they will be minute to minute on this until k ey have answers. >> pelley: in terrell brown's report, you heard jonathan elias, a reporter for our station in boston, wbz. he was right there on boylston street as the bombs went off. can you tell us what you saw? >> reporter: scott, we were not more than 30 feet away from when this blast went off. let me sort of set the scene of what was happening at that moment with the marathon. we were a good four hours, maybe four hours and two minute into fe third and final wave, so the crowd, as far as spectatores, began to slowly thin. i guess that would be the only silver lining in any of this. all of a sudden, coming across the finish line, we were watching and videotaping folks, high-fiving them and cheering them on and all of a sudden this blast went off. shook us in our feet and we were looking right at where it went off, so i saw the plume of smoke come up off the sidewalk. and we froze for a second really not realizing what it was. we thought maybe-- we have old infrastructure in boston.

perhaps it was some sort of underground gas, something. and the next second another bomb up the street further went off. we knew exactly what was going on then. we reacted by running towards the scene. a lot of people were running out. we were followed by a lot of e.m.s., a lot of police running towards the scene. when we got to the sidewalk 30 feet away to see what was happening, it was on that off.walk something i will never norget. people literally had their legs blown off. there was a small child, not more than five, in upright position, he had a bloody face. he didn't look like he was badly wounded but at his feet was his mother or father with a leg blown off. everybody on the sidewalk who was injured weren't crying out in pain or screaming for help. they were-- >> pelley: jonathan elias, we've apparently lost that communication with him. we'll try to get him back. he was there at the moment that both bombs exploded. by our count, at the emergency

rooms around boston, there are more than 53 people being treated. many of them are in critical condition. they were rushed to various gencgency rooms under an nmergency plan that had been set up long in advance. kate merrill from wbz is at one of those emergency rooms at brigham and women's hospital. >> reporter: scott, 26 of the patients were brought here to brigham and weal hospital. the head of emergency telling me they range in age from as young ol three years old to 62. half of them men, half of them women, and at least two are in critical condition tonight. 8-10 suffered serious injuries. and they're all seeing a wide , nge of injuries all blast related. severe head, limb, torso injuries, fractures and onrnlings and eardrum projection the things consistent with a blast. wn hhospital is now on a lock-down here at brigham and women's. the f.b.i., the a.t.f., state

and local police, all here, armed guards are standing ngtside, which means family members trying to come here to see their loved one can't get in. only patients and staff. the head of emergency told me tst a short time ago this is something they train their whole lives for. but it's something he himself has never seen nor could he believe what he witnessed in the e.r. today. te good news here, none of the patients here at the brigham have passed away but they are facing some serious injuries here. and they received the most patient here's at the brigham, but, again, the good news is those patients, many of them having just eardrum and lacerations and fractures, only a dozen or so with more serious-type injurys. but a scene unlike anything these doctors here in boston have ever seen. scott, back to you. >> pelley: kate merrill of wbz. there are a number of hospitals in the area that had received victims of this terrorist

attack. the latest we had from the leston police was that two people had been killed. we don't know of any more than r. j. vt dr. jon lapook has been talking to the various emergency rooms. doctor, what do you know now? >> reporter: well i know the number is closer to 60 or 61, scott. we have 22 at mass. general. we said there were 26 at the brigham and there are various other hospitals involved, also. as we heard, the injuries range acywhere from a punctured eardrum to lacerations to very serious wound injuries i spoke to the head of the emergency department dr. walls at brigham and women's and he said there was a serious leg injury serious head and neck injury, and of course punctured eardrums that they're seeing. but most of all he said in llyition to the serious injuries, people were really shaken up. ge said people were just in ndock at having seen these pieces of body parts and u kething they're not prepared for. >> pelley: one of the youngest victims is three years old. >> reporter: three years old and transferred to children's sospital because they're a

kecially oriented hospital and edildren seis prepared to take care of children that young. >> pelley: jon, best medical care in the world. thank you very much. it is very early in this investigation. it was just a short while ago we heard the president say from the white house we do not know who did this, but whoever did it ould "feel the full weight of justice." bob orr is in our washington bureau. he has been talk to his sources about the investigation. bob, what are you hearing? >> reporter: scott it appears wire dealing with a couple of relatively small but still powerful bombs that were placed in trash canisters along the marathon route, one near a crowd of spectators at the finish line, and one a little further on down the race course. they went off in close proximity, which seems to suggest some planning here. asither more than one person was involved or it was somebody investigators figure who had the time and the knowledge to set these timers in some kind of sequential pattern. we don't know if this is a foreign group or a

foreign-inspired plot or if it's s dramatic group. that's wide open right now and investigators are just starting to go through, that scott. >> pelley: bob we understand there is surveillance video undeg examined by various investigators. we also understand a third bomb that did not explode has been taken intact by the boston police and defused. what could all of that mean? >> reporter: well, that's very important evidence, potentially. the surveillance video in particular might help identify suspicious people near the area. we know about one man who john talked about who is now being questioned about possibly elnked-- we want to emphasize possibly. the bombs or the remnants of the explodebomb could tell how the inmb was constructed, maybe who made it, the methodology involved and that could point us toward an al qaeda affiliate like al qaeda in the arabian peninsula or a domestic-type smponent. these are important pieces of the puzzle.

>> pelley: boylston street right in the heart of boston is likely to be a shutdown crime lene for quite some time as police comb the area to look for every single clue that they can find from the explosions. iw, few people have as much experience in counter-terrorism as the commissioner of police in new york city, ray kelly. he is joining us now on the telephone. commissioner kelly, i understand you have put your force on a heightened level of alert. why is that? >> well, scott, as you know, we've had two successful major attacks here in new york city. we've had 16 plots against us since september 11. we have devoted significant resources to protecting the city from a terrorist event. so this is what we do. we've done it in the past. and we're doing it right now. >> pelley: what should new yorkers do? d> well, new yorkers should be alert, and we ask them to be aware of their surroundings, if

they see anything suspicious, call our resources, call 911, call the 311 if it's not an immediate emergency. but, you know, as i say, we've had-- you know, we've had the experience here of significant events and plots against us. so we would hope that new yorkers are vigilant. we are in the crosshairs of terrorists, and we don't believe that the threat has diminished very much. we don't know the genesis of this. we don't know who's responsible for it. but we sort of have to have a c0-degree perimeter in this city, and other cities as well, obviously. d pelley: ray kelly, police commissioner of the new york police department. commissioner kelly, thank you very much. president obama vowed to bring justice to whoever is responsible for the bombings. we'll have that part of the story when the cbs evening news continues.

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major. >> reporter: scott, the president in his prepared remarks did not call the attack in boston an act of terrorism. we just spoke to a top white house aide moments ago who said the president does consider it an act of terrorism, and has ordered everyone in the federal government to treat as such. the unresolved question, the big rnresolved question is this an act of domestic or foreign terrorism and the president's mandate to everyone in the federal government is build the investigation slowly so the prosecution can be carried out successfully. >> we still do not know who did this or why. and people shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts, but make no mistake. we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this. we'll find out why they did this. any responsible individuals any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice. riday is a holiday in tssachusetts, patriots day. it's a day that celebrateels the

free and fiercely independent spirit that this great american city of boston has reflected from the earliest days of our nation, and it's a date that draws the world to boston's itioets in a spirit of friendly competition. boston is a tough and resilient town, so are its people. ogetsupremely confident that bostonians will pull together, take care of each other and move forward as one proud city, and as they do, the american people will be with them every single step of the way. >> reporter: the white house says president obama will receive updates throughout the evening. the president said security has been increased in other cities k yoss the country as necessary. >> pelley: major, thank you very much. as a precaution, security has been beefed up in new york city, especially in crowded areas, including times square, the world trade center site, the united nations, and in the subway system. ffic than 1,000 counter-terrorism officers have been mobilized in new york in addition to the thousands of

patrol officers always on the streets. he will have another look at the explosions and speak to the man who shot the video when we come back. back. designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. you'll have to pay five hundred bucks for your deductible. the truth? at allstate, you could pay zero. allstate gives you a hundred dollars off your deductible the day you sign up. then another hundred off every year you don't have an accident. let the good hands reward your safe driving with a deductible that goes away. ♪ deductible rewards. one more way you're in good hands with allstate. ♪ yeah by the time i do there's all these mystery stains. i mean is it coffee? could be gravy.

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the explosion that we've been showing you and steve is joining tnesight now on the phone. steve, what did you witness? >> scott evidence at the finish line getting the reporters coming across, the folks running in the four hour zone. apparently there were still over 9,000 people on the course. i was squared up right on the finish line and right off to my right out of the blue, it was a loud bomb, but a thud. a thud noise and smoke went up in the air. and for a split second you unought was it some kind of a firework for a famous runner coming across? videwe ran towards the area, and as we're running, probably under 20 seconds later, the second bomb went off one block up on fairfield and boylston street so we knew it was serious, and the thople in pools of blood and cut

from the glass, the marathon sports building glass through bleu out of the window. and it was pure chaos, as you can imagine. we had medical folk in addition tent treating the runners, eramps and stuff, and now i ey're suddenly involved inia a triage situation, scrambling. i saw one gentleman whose leg was severed off at the knee i can know there were more injuries after that. >> pelley: there was stunned d lence after the first blast and 15 seconds later the second. what happened after that? >> police scrambling. i think there was mass confusion. people didn't know what the procedure was. the problem was the people injured in the blast were on the other side of the partition to keep them off of the race course, so everyone had to pull the partitions away to get to the people. and then radio the people in the medical tent and she then the police came. but couldn't get outside help because all the roads were blocked off, and the swabs were knok with people, and people were running in every direction but didn't know what direction to go. it was pure chaos.

>> pelley: steve silva, thank you very much. we will update you with the very latest information we have when we come back in just a moment. moment. written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading. angie's list is like having thousands of close neighbors where i can go ask for personal recommendations. that's the idea. before you have any work done, check angie's list. from roofers to plumbers to dentists and more, angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i love you, angie. sorry, honey. mr. wiggles and curling irons. for the little mishaps you feel, use neosporin to help you heal. it kills germs so you heal four days faster neosporin. also try neosporin eczema essentials.

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>> pelley: here's what we can confirm at the moment of the confirm at the moment of the terrorist attack at the boston marathon. at least two people were killed. about 50 others are being treated in hospitales, many of them are in critical condition. two bombs exploded within about two blocks of each other, just 15 seconds apart near the finish line of the marathon, and in the pened. it happened as reporters raced past and spectators cheered them s. boston police say they recovered a third bomb that did not explode. president obama vowed that whoever is responsible will, in his words, feel the full weight of justice. but we don't upon who might have done this. much of downtown boston remains sealed off tonight. the entire area is a crime scene. some cbs stations will be leaving us now for local mogramming, but for many of you, the cbs evening news will continue in a moment. ,,,,,,