The blast and clouds of smoke that tore through crowds on Boston's Boylston Street showed the power behind the deadly bombings.
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Video footage on American television showed the detonation behind a row of national flags. One 78-year-old runner was blown to the ground and many bloodied spectators were pushed by the force of the blast through barriers on to the street.
Bill Iffrig, the runner who fell, said: "The shockwave must have hit me. My legs felt like noodles."
But he got up and walked away and told his story to many US media.
Other witnesses near the bombs told how bodies had been piled up on top of each other.
"We saw people with their legs blown off," Mark Hagopian, owner of the Charlesmark Hotel, told reporters from the basement of a restaurant where he had sought shelter.
"A person next to me had his legs blown off - he was still alive."
AFP
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