Foreign minister Didier Burkhalter has expressed the government’s solidarity with those affected by bomb attacks in downtown Boston during the city’s iconic marathon.
He condemned Monday’s attacks with the «utmost determination» and called for international resolve against terrorism in remarks before the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Three people were killed and more than one hundred injured when bombs exploded near the marathon’s finish line around 8.50 p.m. Swiss time. Officials in Washington said there was no immediate claim of responsibility. Neither a suspect nor a motive for the attacks has been identified, but they are believed to be an act of terrorism.
Lukas Wyniger, a runner and radio DJ from Switzerland who took part in this year’s Boston Marathon, told the 20 Minuten newspaper that his thoughts didn’t immediately turn to an attack upon hearing one of the bombs explode; however, when he saw «blind panic» in spectators’ eyes, he realised something had gone terribly wrong.
«Suddenly I saw all the people running toward me from the finish line in a panic,» he said. «By then, my thoughts had turned to 9/11.»
Some 23,000 runners took part in the race, which attracts more than 500,000 spectators and winds up in the heart of central Boston, near the landmark Prudential Center and the Boston Public Library. It is held on Patriots‘ Day, a Massachusetts state holiday which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775.
In Britain, police said they were reviewing security plans for Sunday’s London Marathon, the next major international marathon. London is also considered a top target for international terrorists.