Boy, 8, who was waiting to give his runner father a hug at finish line is named as one of three Boston Marathon bombing victims along with woman in her twenties while 144 are injured and 17 left in critical condition
- Martin Richard, 8, and woman in 20s among three confirmed dead in the worst terror attack since September 11
- At least 144 people injured, at least 17 of them in critical condition and 'several' amputations have been performed
- At least eight patients are children, including boy, 2, with head injury, after blasts tear through spectator area
- Witnesses recount war zone at finish line as bombs leave area littered with limbs and 'shoes with flesh still in them'
- Hunt for 'man in black'
- President Obama vows to bring perpetrators to justice as FBI classifies the bombings as a terrorist attack
- FBI warned police to be on lookout for 'darker-skinned or black male' with a possible foreign accent
- Hospitals report removing ball bearings from victims, suggesting the bombs were designed to propel shrapnel
- Two detonations came 12 seconds apart, with witnesses describing scenes of utter 'pandemonium'
- London Marathon WILL go ahead this weekend, insists race chief as police review security in the capital
By Beth Stebner, Thomas Durante and James Nye
PUBLISHED: 19:09 GMT, 15 April 2013 | UPDATED: 08:12 GMT, 16 April 2013
The little boy who died in Monday's Boston bombing has been named as eight-year-old Martin Richard from Dorchester in Massachusetts - killed as he was standing in line waiting to give his marathon running father a hug.
Losing his life as two explosions tore through the crowd at the finishing post of the Boston Marathon, Martin was at the race to support his dad Bill Martin, along with his mother Denise Richard and two siblings.
Friends held a vigil on Monday night at the neighborhood Tavolo Restaurant in Dorchester for Martin and his mother and sister, who suffered 'grievous' injuries in the bombing on Monday afternoon.
According to the Boston Globe, Martin Richards had walked out to hug his father as he went to cross the finishing line.
Afterwards, his father walked on but the little boy went back to rejoin his mom and siblings - at which point the first bomb went off.
Reports suggest that his mother was terribly injured and his sisters leg was blown off in the devastating explosion.
Seventy-eight-year-old Bill Iffrig, of Lake Stevens - who fell to the ground in the seconds after the blasts has become one of the unfortunate icons of the Boston marathon bombings
Lucky Escape: Boston Marathon runner Bill Iffrig appears on Piers Morgan on CNN after the marathon explosions on April 15, 2013
Seventy-eight-year-old Bill Iffrig, of Lake Stevens - is helped from the floor as stewards run to help those affected by the blast - as the second explosion can be seen detonating in the distance
Injured people and debris lie on the sidewalk near the Boston Marathon finish line following an explosion in Boston, Monday, April 15, 2013
Members of the armed forces present at the Boston Marathon rush to help those stricken by the bomb attack today at the finish line
A man comforts an injured woman on the sidewalk at the scene of the first explosion on Boylston Street near the finish line of the Boston Marathon 
An injured person is helped on the sidewalk near the Boston Marathon finish line following Monday's two bomb blasts 
Carnage: Injured people and debris lie on the sidewalk near the Boston Marathon finish line
After the twin detonations 12 seconds apart ripped through the cheering crowds 50-yards away lining Boston's streets at around 2.50 p.m - one witness told CNN that it 'felt like a huge cannon'.
Bill Iffrig, 78 and a veteran marathon runner, was almost at the finish when 'the shock waves just hit my whole body and my legs just started jittering around.'
Iffrig, can be seen in video of the explosion wearing an orange tank top, and was helped to his feet by an event volunteer and had just a scratch from his fall, he told CNN.
Others were simply stunned by the carnage they witnessed.
'In 28 years, this is definitely the worst I've seen,' said District Fire Chief Ron Harrington of the Boston Fire Department's District 3 to NBC News.
'Bodies and body parts. Blood all over. A little boy lying in the street. A young woman in her twenties. Both dead. It was mayhem. I saw two people with arms hanging loose, and one without a leg. A shoe with flesh still in it.'
Right after the blasts, police officers could be seen carrying bloody spectators to medical tents intended for exhausted runners in desperate attempts to save lives.
Horrific Injuries: Medical workers aid an injured man at the 2013 Boston Marathon who screams out in pain 
Emergency personnel respond to the scene as they attempt to tend to the seriously injured at the scene 
Passersby help an injured man on the sidewalk near Marathon Sports after two explosions almost simultaneously went off near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon today 
An official with the marathon rushed an injured girl away from the scene of the explosions at the Boston Marathon today
A Boston police officer wheels in injured boy down Boylston Street as medical workers carry an injured runner
President Barack Obama spoke around 6pm Monday evening, saying that the American people stand by those in Boston affected by today's bombing 
Emotional: US President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks about the Boston Marathon explosions on April 15, 2013 at the White House in Washington, DC 
President Obama talks on the phone in the Oval Office today with FBI Director Robert Mueller and was seated with Lisa Monaco, head of Homeland Security, and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and was briefed on the attack 
The American flag on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol is lowered to half-staff on Capitol Hill, Monday, April 15, 2013, in Washington, to honor the victims of the explosions at the Boston Marathon
