Texas Plant Explosion: 14 Bodies Recovered

Officials have recovered 14 bodies following a massive explosion that levelled a fertiliser plant and destroyed dozens of homes in West, Texas.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt Jason Reyes did not say where the bodies were found but said more information would be provided later.

He says the bodies will be sent to the Dallas County medical examiner's office for identification.

The blast levelled nearby apartments

Sgt Reyes earlier announced that 12 bodies had been recovered by Friday morning and that search and rescue efforts were ongoing.

Senator John Cornyn, speaking earlier to reporters in West, said as many as 60 people remain unaccounted for, but suggested some could be staying with friends and relatives.

Even before investigators released a confirmed number of fatalities, the names of the dead were becoming known in the town of 2,800.

A small group of firefighters and others who may have rushed toward the factory to battle a pre-explosion blaze are believed to be among the dead. Sgt Reyes said he could not confirm how many of those killed were first responders.

Mourners gather for a candle light vigil at a church in West

Authorities said there is no indication that the blast was anything other than an industrial accident. It remains unclear what sparked the blaze.

"We know everyone that was there first, in the beginning," said Christina Rodarte, who has lived in West for 27 years. "There's no words for it.

"It is a small community, and everyone knows the first responders, because anytime there's anything going on, the fire department is right there - all volunteer."

One victim Ms Rodarte knew and whose name has been released was Kenny Harris, a 52-year-old captain in the Dallas Fire Department who lived south of West. He was off duty at the time but responded to the fire to help, according to a statement from the city of Dallas.

A massive plume of smoke filled the Texas sky after the blast

West's landscape is likely to be altered permanently after an area four to five blocks in radius was levelled by the blast. An apartment complex was badly shattered, a school set ablaze, and a nursing home was left in ruins.

Residents have been kept out of a large swathe of West, where search and rescue teams continue to pick through the rubble.

Some with permission have made forays closer to the destruction and came back stunned - and it is possible other residents will be allowed to retrieve some personal belongings on Friday, emergency workers said.

Texas attorney general Greg Abbott said: "I had an expectation of what I would see, but what I saw went beyond my expectations in a bad way. It is very disturbing to see the site."

Firefighter Darryl Hall, from Thorndale, about 50 miles away from West, was one of the rescue workers helping with the house-to-house search.

He said: "People's lives are devastated here. It's hard to imagine."

A nearby football pitch served as a makeshift triage in the aftermath

A team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives still had not been able to begin investigating the scene because it remained unsafe, agency spokeswoman Franceska Perot said.

The West Fertilizer Co facility stores and distributes anhydrous ammonia, a fertiliser that can be directly injected into soil, and a blender and mixer of other fertilisers.

Records reviewed by the AP news agency show the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration fined West Fertilizer $10,000 last summer for safety violations that included planning to transport anhydrous ammonia without a security plan.

An inspector also found the plant's ammonia tanks were not properly labelled.

In a risk-management plan filed with the Environmental Protection Agency about a year earlier, the company said it was not handling flammable materials and did not have sprinklers, water-deluge systems, blast walls, fire walls or other safety mechanisms in place at the plant.

State officials require all facilities that handle anhydrous ammonia to have sprinklers and other safety measures because it is a flammable substance, according to Mike Wilson, head of air permitting for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

But inspectors would not necessarily check for such mechanisms, and it is not known whether they did when the West plant was last inspected in 2006, said Ramiro Garcia, head of enforcement and compliance.

That inspection followed a complaint about a strong ammonia smell, which the company resolved by obtaining a new permit, said the commission's executive director Zak Covar.

He said no other complaints had been filed with the state since then, so there have not been additional inspections.

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Texas Explosion: Kindness Amid Destruction

Aerial footage shows a neighbourhood blasted beyond recognition - an astonishing swathe of destruction where people are still missing.

Rescuers continue to pick through the wreckage of the fertiliser plant explosion, which has ripped into this once-normal Texas farming community.

At West's Village Bakery comfort and free food is on tap.

It is at the core of this town's clear instinct to pull together.

The explosion has affected practically everyone here

Only a couple of days ago the owner, Mimi Irwin, was at a local function with volunteer firefighters - some of whom lost their lives while trying to tackle the fire that triggered the blast.

She says: "These people were attorneys, insurance agents, bankers, pharmacists, farmers who all wanted to give.

"And our volunteer fire department is really an honour. They're not paid - they simply do this because they love our town."

People are pulling together as the town counts the human cost of the blast

Steve and Joyce Brock are also doing their bit to help by offering their own home to those who have lost theirs.

Mr Brock said: "If you lose four or five blocks of homes, somebody's going to be homeless, so we watched it before we went to bed and I told Joyce we need to go over there tomorrow and see if we can find somebody who needs a place to stay."

That may include Evelyn Muehlstein, who was alone in her home when the blast struck.

Volunteers have been taking bedding to residents left with nothing

"The ceiling fell down and it was all on the floor," she said. "It was awful, terrible.

"I just don't know what I'll do. I'm 92 years-old and I don't have a house."

Acts of kindness are not difficult to find here. For the moment Ms Muehlstein is being looked after by a neighbour.

Homes were wiped out by the force of the explosion

A mile from the bakery, homes like hers lie in ruins. No one - bar investigators - is allowed past the police cordon.

Officers are also locals. One told us his fear is that the operation is no longer one of rescue but recovery.

It seems everyone has a story to tell here.

As Texas governor Rick Perry put it, the tragedy has affected practically everybody in this small town and there is still looming uncertainty over which of their own was lost trying to save it.

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China Quake: Dozens Dead, Over 2,000 Injured

By Mark Stone, China correspondent

At least 102 people are believed to have been killed and more than 2,200 injured after an earthquake struck China's province of Sichuan.

Chinese news agency Xinhua said the quake, measured at varying magnitudes between 6.6 and 7.0, struck at 8.02am local time close to the city of Ya'an in Lushan county and the epicentre had a depth of a little less than eight miles (13km).

It started landslides, destroyed buildings, and triggered a major rescue operation involving emergency services and more than 2,000 troops.

Residents take shelter in a public square in Chengdu

The rescue effort is understood to have been hampered by aftershocks and landslides. Some of the tremors which followed the main quake have been almost as strong.

According to local media reports, a vehicle carrying 17 soldiers fell off a cliff and into a river as it travelled to the epicentre. One soldier was killed and seven more injured, three seriously.

But extraordinary stories of survival are already emerging. According to one local media report, a mother managed to lift concrete weighing 50 kilogrammes to rescue her son from the rubble.

Another report described how a woman gave birth at a bike shelter just a few hours after the quake hit. 

According to the People's Daily newspaper, fire-fighters dug out a mother holding her baby in her arms from the rubble. She survived, but her baby sadly died.

Tremors have been felt in neighbouring provinces and in the provincial capital city of Chengdu. Users of Weibo, China's microblogging service, have posted images of damaged buildings and described scenes of panic as residents rushed outside.

Lushan was hit just after 8am local time

A resident in Chengdu said he was on the 13th floor of a building when he felt the quake. The building shook for about 20 seconds and he saw tiles fall from nearby buildings.

Local seismologists registered the quake at magnitude 7.0 while the US Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 6.6.

The USGS said "significant" casualties were likely and "extensive damage is probable and disaster is likely widespread".

"Past events with this alert level have required a national or international-level response," it added.

Collapsed houses on a road leading from Ya'an city to Luzhou county

A Chinese General, flying over one area in a helicopter, told local media that as many as 50 percent of buildings in one area had collapsed.

China's new Premiere Li Keqiang is flying to the region to survey the damage. The quake is the first big test for the new Chinese leadership. Their ability to respond to it is likely to be scrutinised on an ever growing social media forum.

The epicentre is close to the location of the 2008 earthquake which killed 68,000 people. That quake had a greater magnitude of 7.9 but its epicentre was further underground.

Rescuers try to remove rocks blocking a road in Lushan county

The 2008 disaster destroyed large swathes of the province along with areas of neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. The government faced significant criticism for allowing badly constructed buildings to be erected and for covering up their failings.

International offers of assistance have already been received.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent China's President Xi Jinping a telegram expressing his condolences and offering help.

An aerial view of damaged houses Lushan county

"The Russian leader affirmed Russia's readiness in case of need to provide assistance in dealing with the consequences of this damaging natural disaster," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Twin tremors in neighbouring Yunnan province last September triggered landslides that left at least 80 people dead.

A 5.5 magnitude quake in Yunnan last June killed four people and injured more than 100.

Another 5.4 tremor the year before near the border with Burma left 25 people dead and injured 250.

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Boston Bombings: Second Suspect In Custody

The second Boston bombing suspect has been captured after he was found hiding in a boat parked in a suburban backyard.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was already wounded from an earlier shootout, exchanged gunfire with police for an hour while holed up in the boat in the neighbourhood of Watertown.

The dramatic stand-off ended with the 19-year-old being given first aid on the lawn next to the boat before he was taken away in an ambulance at around 8.45pm local time.

Police look around the corner as Dzhokhar was hiding in a boat nearby

Dzhokhar remains in "serious condition" at Beth Israel Deaconess hospital, said Boston police commissioner Ed Davis.

Swat teams surrounded the boat after a tip-off from a resident who noticed blood on it, Mr Davis said.

The man lifted the cover of the boat, saw the teenager covered in blood and alerted police.

A police helicopter then used infra-red equipment to confirm there was a human inside the boat.

This image appears to show the capture of Dzhokhar

Dzhokhar had been on the run since his 26-year-old brother and fellow suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev  - known as suspect number one - was killed in a shoot-out with police in the early hours of Friday.

The brothers were believed to be behind Monday's twin explosions at the Boston Marathon which left three people dead and around 180 wounded.

But their mother Zubeidat said she did not believe they were responsible.

"I am like 100% sure that this is a setup," she said. "My two sons are really innocent and I know that neither of them have never talked about whatever they're saying about now.

An FBI officer stands in front of the boat

"My youngest one was raised from eight years in America and my oldest son he was really properly raised in my house. No-one talked about terrorism."

During their getaway attempt, they killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology policeman Sean Collier and severely wounded another officer, authorities said.

A crowd of residents cheered as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev - known as suspect number two - was taken into custody, and the celebrations continued into the night in the city's streets.

Mayor Tom Menino said on Twitter: "We got him".

Boston Police tweeted: "CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody."

The family of eight-year-old Martin Richard, who died in the bombings, released a statement praising police.  

"Tonight, our family applauds the entire law enforcement community for a job well done, and trust that our justice system will now do its job," the family said.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been taken to hospital with serious injuries

Martin's mother also sustained brain injuries and his sister lost a leg in the blast.

US President Barack Obama told a news conference the suspect's capture "closed an important chapter in this tragedy".

But he said there were still many unanswered questions about the marathon bombings, including whether the two men had help from others.

Residents cheered after the suspect was caught

As Dzhokhar was being captured, three people in New Bedford, Massachusetts, were also taken into custody for questioning over the blasts.

Lieutenant Robert Richard said two men and a woman were being questioned by the FBI "on the assumption there is an affiliation with suspect number two".

Dzhokhar's capture came at the end of a tumultuous all-day manhunt and house-to-house search by thousands of elite police officers.

Thousands of officers combed the streets of Boston for Dzhokhar

As night fell, police announced that they were scaling back the hunt and they had so far come up empty-handed.

But shortly after that statement, a break came in Watertown when the homeowner - who had been indoors all day due to the manhunt - saw the blood on his boat.

The vessel had not been searched before because it was outside of the police perimeter set up during the search.

It has also been revealed that Tamerlan attracted the attention of US authorities two years ago.

The FBI said its agents interviewed him in 2011 at the request of a foreign government, but that the investigation found "no derogatory information", according to an official.

The FBI declined to identify the country involved or the nature of the probe.

The brothers moved to the US a decade ago from a Russian region near Chechnya and had been living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as legal permanent residents.

Their father, Anzor Tsarnaev, told reporters in Russia that he believed his sons had been framed and described the killing of Tamerlan as "cowardly".

Maret Tsarnaev, the men's aunt, said Tamerlan had recently become a devout Muslim who prayed five times a day.

Speaking to reporters at her home in Toronto, Canada, she also said the older brother was married and had a daughter in the US.

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Texas Plant Explosion: Search For Survivors

Rescue teams are searching the rubble of homes for survivors after a massive explosion ripped through a nearby fertiliser plant in Texas.

Up to 15 people are feared to have been killed and more than 160 others were injured in the blast in the small town of West, near Waco.

The Dallas Fire-Rescue department has confirmed one of its firefighters, 52-year-old Captain Kenny Harris, died as he helped fight the initial blaze.

Police have warned of a "very volatile situation" because of ammonium nitrate found at the plant. The chemical compound is commonly used a fertiliser but can also be used in explosives.

Hundreds of worshippers prayed for the victims at a church service on Thursday.

The explosion caused the roof of a school gym to cave in

Firefighters had been tackling a blaze at the factory for about 20 minutes when the explosion rocked the area on Wednesday evening.

Three to four volunteer firefighters are among the missing, said Sergeant William Patrick Swanton.

Capt Harris, who lived in West, was off duty when the fire broke out but decided to help the town's volunteer crew. He was described as a married father of three grown sons.

The blast destroyed as many as 80 houses and reduced a complex of 50 apartments to a "skeleton standing up", according to one official.

The wreckage of an apartment building destroyed by the explosion

It also struck a nearby school and nursing home, where an evacuation saw 133 patients taken out of the building, some in wheelchairs.

The explosion at the West Fertiliser Company could be heard 45 miles away. It sent flames shooting into the night sky and rained burning embers, shrapnel and debris down on shocked and frightened residents.

Sgt Swanton said the number of dead was estimated to be between five and 15, and emergency crews were moving from house to house in a search and rescue operation.

More than half of the 2,700 population of West had been evacuated and people were still being pulled from damaged buildings.

The explosion had a magnitude of 2.1 - equivalent to a minor earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey.

A victim from the explosion is wheeled into hospital

A man filmed the initial fire, and captured the moment of the explosion on camera.

His child is heard shouting: "Dad, I can't hear, let's get out of here. I can't hear anything." The dad says simply: "Oh my god."

Waco Assistant Fire Chief Don Yeager said it was an anhydrous (without water) ammonia explosion.

Anhydrous ammonia is a nitrogen-hydrogen gas widely used as a fertiliser, but it is also a key component of many explosive devices.

Residents in West have been urged to remain indoors because of the threat of new explosions or leaks of ammonia from the plant's ruins.

US Geological Survey graphic shows blast ground waves (L) and sound waves

The town's mayor Tommy Muska, who is part of the team of local volunteer firefighters, compared the blast to a nuclear bomb going off.

In a statement, President Barack Obama offered the prayers of the nation to the people of West.

"A tight-knit community has been shaken, and good, hard-working people have lost their lives," he said.

Texas Governor Rick Perry described "a nightmare scenario for that community," as he announced he was seeking a federal disaster declaration which would make additional funds available.

Debby Marak said she noticed a lot of smoke coming from the area across town near the plant.

She said she drove over to see what was happening, and when she got out of her car two boys ran towards her screaming that officials told them to leave because the plant was going to explode.

This image shows the initial blast Pic: KWTX-TV

Moments later the blast happened.

"It was like being in a tornado," the 58-year-old said. "Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield. It was like the whole earth shook."

The cause of the fire remains unknown and it is being treated as a crime scene, which is standard procedure, Sgt Swanton said.

But he added there was no indication the blast was anything other than an industrial accident.

The explosion came on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Waco siege - a deadly confrontation between federal authorities and heavily armed locals.

The Dallas Morning News said that the fertiliser company previously reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency and local public safety officials that there was no risk of fire or explosion at the plant.

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Texas Explosion: Kindness Amid Destruction

Aerial footage shows a neighbourhood blasted beyond recognition - an astonishing swathe of destruction where people are still missing.

Rescuers continue to pick through the wreckage of the fertiliser plant explosion, which has ripped into this once-normal Texas farming community.

At West's Village Bakery comfort and free food is on tap.

It is at the core of this town's clear instinct to pull together.

The explosion has affected practically everyone here

Only a couple of days ago the owner, Mimi Irwin, was at a local function with volunteer firefighters - some of whom lost their lives while trying to tackle the fire that triggered the blast.

She says: "These people were attorneys, insurance agents, bankers, pharmacists, farmers who all wanted to give.

"And our volunteer fire department is really an honour. They're not paid - they simply do this because they love our town."

People are pulling together as the town counts the human cost of the blast

Steve and Joyce Brock are also doing their bit to help by offering their own home to those who have lost theirs.

Mr Brock said: "If you lose four or five blocks of homes, somebody's going to be homeless, so we watched it before we went to bed and I told Joyce we need to go over there tomorrow and see if we can find somebody who needs a place to stay."

That may include Evelyn Muehlstein, who was alone in her home when the blast struck.

Volunteers have been taking bedding to residents left with nothing

"The ceiling fell down and it was all on the floor," she said. "It was awful, terrible.

"I just don't know what I'll do. I'm 92 years-old and I don't have a house."

Acts of kindness are not difficult to find here. For the moment Ms Muehlstein is being looked after by a neighbour.

Homes were wiped out by the force of the explosion

A mile from the bakery, homes like hers lie in ruins. No one - bar investigators - is allowed past the police cordon.

Officers are also locals. One told us his fear is that the operation is no longer one of rescue but recovery.

It seems everyone has a story to tell here.

As Texas governor Rick Perry put it, the tragedy has affected practically everybody in this small town and there is still looming uncertainty over which of their own was lost trying to save it.

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Boston Marathon Bombings 'Terror' Suspect Hunt

One Boston marathon bombing suspect has been shot dead and another is on the loose believed to be "armed and dangerous", police have said.

The suspects - named Dzhokhar A Tsarnaev, 19, who is on the run, and his 26--year-old brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who is now dead - moved to the US a decade ago from a Russian region near Chechnya.

They had been living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as legal permanent residents.

The suspect being hunted by police

The younger brother was said to have posted links to Islamic websites and others calling for Chechen independence on a Russian-language social networking site.

All public transport remains suspended in Boston - and all streets and businesses in Watertown locked down - as a major manhunt continues for the suspect who got away.

It follows a shootout in the residential suburb of Watertown between both suspects and dozens of armed officers after a policeman was shot dead at Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, nine miles from Boston city centre.

The suspect at the marathon among the bombing victims (Pic: Kevin O'Keefe)

Boston Police commissioner Ed Davis said: "What we are looking for right now is a suspect consistent with the description of suspect number two - the white-capped individual who was involved in Monday's bombing of the Boston Marathon."

He was described as light-skinned with brown wavy hair and dressed in a grey hooded top.

"You have seen the picture, You all have it. That's the individual we are looking for at this moment.

"We believe this to be a terrorist. We believe this to be a man who came here to kill people."

The dead suspect, who ran at officers during the stand-off

He added: "We believe these to be the same individuals who are responsible for the bombing on Monday at the Boston Marathon."

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said a "massive manhunt" was under way.

"This is a serious situation, we are taking it seriously and we are asking the public to take it seriously," he added.

Officials said the operation could take "hours" and asked the public to be patient.

The suspects, who are believed to be responsible for the death of the MIT campus policeman, carjacked a black Mercedes SUV, taking its owner hostage before driving off towards Watertown with police in pursuit.

A Swat team on the roof of a property in Watertown (Pic: Samantha England)

On their way, the hostage was dumped at a petrol station after about 30 minutes, before a dramatic shootout ensued in Watertown.

The New York Times quoted local resident Andrew Kitzenberg, who said he saw the pair, wearing backpacks, shooting at dozens of police officers from behind a black Mercedes SUV.

The 29-year-old said the officers and the men were 70 yards apart and engaged in "constant gunfire".

He said an explosive device was also thrown at the police and went off some 20 yards from where they were shooting.

Watertown Residents heard the gun battle and an explosion

One suspect ran at police and was shot at and apprehended. He later died in hospital despite attempts to resuscitate him.

According to NBC, police ran over the suspect because he was wearing an IED (improvised explosive device). However this has not been confirmed by police or other officials.

He arrived at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre with multiple injuries mainly around his torso including gunshot wounds, burns consistent with a blast and pieces of shrapnel all over his body.

The other, who is said to be badly injured, managed to get away from the stand-off - in which a police officer was also shot and is undergoing surgery at a Boston hospital.

Police officers arriving at the scene in the neighbourhood

Some 12 victims from the Boston Marathon blasts remain at the same hospital, one in a critical condition. Around 24 others who suffered injuries have been discharged.

A spokesman said though the hospital was open as normal, it was restricting access to "ensure the safety of patients, families and visitors", and urged people to show patience when arriving at the site.

One medic, who lives in Watertown, heard the shootout from his home and alerted the hospital before rushing to work.

Residents in the area have been told to stay indoors and remain vigilant until further notice.

Several homes suffered extensive damage from the bomb blast and were caught in the crossfire in the shootout.

Bullet holes through the wall and chair of one home caught in the crossfire

Police have sealed off the area and are conducting door-to-door searches and enquiries.

Sky's US correspondent Dominic Waghorn in Watertown, said: "It has been a terrifying night for the people of Watertown, and it remains so until this man is found."

Meanwhile, police converged on what is believed to be the suspects' apartment in Cambridge and a woman was reportedly dragged from the block of flats and handcuffed before she was led away.

The shootout took place in the Watertown neighbourhood near Boston

The development comes just days after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 180 others.

The FBI have released pictures and video of two suspects in the deadly Boston marathon bombings.

A message on the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (MIT) website earlier described the incident as "active and extremely dangerous" as police swept the campus in Cambridge.

Cambridge Police Department said in a statement that six gunshots were heard at 10.50pm local time.

The officer killed was responding to a report of a disturbance on Thursday night when he was shot multiple times.

The officer, who was not immediately identified, was taken to a hospital where he later died from his multiple gunshot wounds.

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Boston Bombing: Suspect Pictured Near Victims

A photograph of one of the Boston bombing suspects has emerged showing him standing close to a family devastated by the blast.

The Associated Press has named one suspect as 19-year-old Dzhokhar A Tsarnaev, who is still at large. He is believed to be the man in the photograph.

Images of the two suspects were released by the FBI

Standing close to him are the Richard family; eight-year-old Martin Richard was killed in the blast, his mother suffered brain injuries, and his sister lost a leg.

The New York Times cited unnamed law enforcement officials in naming the other suspect - now deceased - as Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

A photo of the second suspect was released by police in Boston

It has been reported that the two are brothers from Chechnya and had lived in the US for at least one year.

A photograph showing the surviving suspect leaving the scene emerged on Friday morning. It shows the man - wearing a white cap and dark clothing - walking away from the carnage of Monday's explosions.

An image showing one suspect leaving the scene (David Green/LetsRun.com)

Earlier, the FBI and Boston police released new pictures of the two suspects, who investigators had described as "armed and dangerous".

The Boston Globe, quoting law enforcement officials, claimed the pair are brothers.

A major manhunt is under way for the remaining suspect

The images released on Friday morning show one suspect wearing dark clothes, a dark cap and sunglasses. He is understood to have been shot dead.

The second suspect - still on the loose - is seen wearing a white baseball cap, which is reversed allowing a clearer view of his face.

Police say he is armed and should not be approached by the public.

CCTV footage was released of the pair on Thursday, in which they are seen carrying bulky backpacks as they walk the route of Monday's race in the heart of the city.

The men were filmed heading in the direction of the finishing line, moments before both bombs went off seconds apart.

Three people were killed and more than 180 others injured in the explosions.

Earlier at a moving inter-faith memorial service, Barack Obama joined 1,700 people at Boston's Holy Cross Cathedral to honour the victims - the youngest of whom was eight-year-old Martin Richard, from Boston.

The president promised the killers would be brought to justice, saying: "We will find you.

"We will hold you accountable. But more than that, our fidelity to our way of life - to our free and open society - will only grow stronger."

The bombs were crudely made with explosives, nails and ball bearings packed into pressure cookers, investigators close to the case have said.

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WhatsApp Has 'More Users Than Twitter'

Smartphone messaging app WhatsApp has more users than Twitter, claims its boss.

Jan Koum says the company processes 8bn inbound and 12bn outbound messages every day.

He did not reveal exactly how many active users the service has, but Twitter officially quotes 200 million per month.

Speaking at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference in New York, Mr Koum said he had no plans yet to cash in on its sizable user base through traditional means.

"We do have a manifesto opposing advertising," said the WhatsApp CEO. "We're proud of that. Who likes advertising?

"We're so bombarded with ads so much in our daily lives and we felt that smartphones aren't the place for that ... You don't want to be interrupted by ads when you're chatting with your loved ones."

The app, which allows smartphone users to send free texts, pictures and videos, currently charges 69p per year in the UK and 99 cents in the US.

However, Mr Koum did not rule out extracting more money from the service in the future.

"We're looking forward to a world with billions of phones and once that happens it's going to be extremely easy to monetise," he said.

WhatsApp's meteoric success over the last four years has stoked speculation that Google or Facebook could make a big money move to snap up the company.

However, the firm has denied talking to either of the internet giants.

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Boston Bombs: First Pictures Of Devices

US authorities have released the first pictures of the explosive devices used in the twin blasts which hit the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The images show twisted pieces of a metal container, wires, a battery and a small circuit board which exploded close to the finish line at the race.

In another, a piece of charred wire can be seen attached to a small box and a twisted metal lid with bolts.

The FBI said on Tuesday that a pressure cooker may have been used to build the bombs, with nails, ball bearings and other metal packed around the explosive.

The device may also have been hidden inside rucksacks placed on the ground near the finish line.

Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge said the investigation to find those responsible would be worldwide.

He vowed: "We will go to the ends of the Earth to identify the subject or subjects who are responsible for this despicable crime."

More than 1,000 officers are working on the investigation which agents have said in the largest the Boston bureau has ever worked on. 

Pressure cooker bombs have been used in attacks in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan, according to a July 2010 FBI report.

But the techniques of making them is understood to be known to domestic US extremists.

Officials said that there was no indication that al Qaeda or other foreign extremist organisations were behind the attack, but they added the investigation was still at an early stage.

It is not yet known what was used to set off the devices.

The damage caused by one of the blasts in Boston

Special agent DesLauriers said experts would reconstruct the devices at the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.

The FBI also appealed for anyone who was in the area of the marathon or Boston airport in the last few days to send in any pictures they may have taken.

Investigators are already understood to be examining 6,000 movies-worth of CCTV footage from cameras in the area.

Websites and newspapers were already featuring images which they claimed showed people suspected of carrying out the attacks or the devices.

The FBI said it was looking at one sent to a local TV station which appeared to show a bag next to a mailbox in the area where one of the bombs went off.

Jason Pack, FBI spokesman in Boston, said: "We're taking a look at hundreds of photos and that's one of them." 

Three people were killed and more than 170 others injured after the two explosions around four hours into the famous marathon.

Two of those killed were Krystle Campbell, 29, and eight-year-old Martin Richard.

The third is understood to be a Chinese graduate student who has been named locally and in China, but not named officially.

Nine children were among the injured, which were aged between two and 71.

Doctors have revealed the extent of the injuries suffered by those caught in the blasts, including details of a nine-year-old girl who lost her leg and a 10-year-old boy who suffered deep shrapnel wounds.

George Velmahos, of Massachusetts General Hospital, said: "These bombs contained small metallic fragments more consistent with pellets and other small pieces of metal, but also spiked points that resembled nails without heads."

A total of 13 people have had to have limbs amputated and others are at risk of losing legs following the blasts. Seventeen remain in a critical condition.

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Free Sandwiches May Have Contained Rat Poison

Twenty employees of a company in Germany have been hospitalised in case sandwiches they were given as a gift turn out to have been poisoned.

The suspicious sandwiches were left on the doorstep of a company near the northwestern town of Vechta on Tuesday with a note saying they were a present.

Police say 25 employees of the company in Steinfeld, Lower Saxony, ate the sandwiches before someone noticed a strange substance on them.

The emergency services were called and a fleet of ambulances took those who had eaten the sandwiches for urgent treatment.

The company and the identity of those who ate them has not been revealed.

Local reports in Germany say the substance is suspected to be rat poison.

Police said those placed in hospital were taken in as a precaution. They are in intensive care, according to local media. 

Area force spokesman Klaus Koesterke said Wednesday that so far none of those hospitalised has shown symptoms of poisoning.

But officials said they are not excluding the possibility of a slow-acting poison.

Uneaten samples of the sandwiches have been sent to a Berlin laboratory for tests.

Officers have also appealed for anyone else who may have eaten the sandwiches to come forward.

It has also not been revealed why the employees thought the rolls were safe to eat.

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Boston Bombs: Victim's Mother 'Heartbroken'

The mother of one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings has paid an emotional tribute to her daughter.

Krystle Campbell, 29, was the second of the three people killed in the blasts on Monday to be identified.

She had gone with her best friend to take a picture of the friend's boyfriend crossing the finish line on Monday afternoon when the bombs went off.

An image of one of the mangled pressure cooker bombs

Mother Patty Campbell said: "She was a wonderful person and everyone who knew her loved her.

"She was always smiling and was such a hard-worker in everything she did. This just doesn't make any sense."

It has since emerged that Krystle Campbell's parents were originally told their daughter had been badly injured but would survive.

The New York Daily News reported that doctors had confused Krystle with her friend Karen Rand, who was by chance carrying Krystle's ID. Karen Rand had surgery to a badly injured leg.

William Campbell Jr, 56, said: "We had the doctors come out and tell us everything they did (on the survivor) - and it wasn't our daughter."

Krystle Campbell was with a friend at the race

Boston University said the third victim was a graduate student who was watching the race with friends at the finish line, close to the university.

The Chinese consulate said the victim was an exchange student, but has not identified them.

The first victim to be identified, eight-year-old Martin Richard, was waiting with his family to give his father a hug at the finish line when he was killed.

His sister Jane lost a leg and his mother Denise, 43, is understood to have undergone surgery for a serious head injury after they were also caught in the blast.

President Obama will visit Boston on Thursday and will attend an interfaith service in memory of those killed.

Eight-year-old Martin Richard was killed in one of the blasts

On Tuesday, he branded the bombings an act of terrorism, but said investigators did not know whether they were carried out by a solo bomber or a group.

The FBI also vowed to "go to the ends of the Earth" to find out who carried out the attacks.

More than 24 hours since the twin blasts, the FBI has few breakthroughs to report and no apparent motive.

Forensic investigators work at the scene of one of the bomb blasts

Special agent Rick DesLauriers said that specialists in Virginia will "reconstruct the device".

Doctors have revealed the extent of the injuries suffered by those caught in the blasts, including details of a nine-year-old girl who had lost her leg and a 10-year-old boy who suffered deep shrapnel wounds.

Several people have had to have limbs amputated and others are at risk of losing legs following the blasts that ripped through crowds during the city's marathon.

People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the attacks

The explosive devices involved pressure cooker bombs hidden inside duffel bags packed with nails, shards of metal and ball bearings, placed on the ground around 100m apart along the finishing stretch of the Boston Marathon route.

Seventeen people remain in a critical condition after the blasts.

Security has been stepped up in Washington and New York, and Boston remains on high alert, although there have been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.

Police are said to have questioned a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian man who is being treated for injuries at a hospital in Boston.

Officers have searched his apartment in Revere, according to his flatmate.

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Boston Marathon Explosions: Hunt For Clues

By Tim Marshall, Sky News Foreign Editor

Within minutes of the explosions in Boston, the procedures required for a successful investigation will have been put in place.

The first responders treated the injured and bystanders pulled away wreckage from those trapped.

But following in quickly behind them will have been the men and women who were already thinking ahead.

The scene was quickly sealed off. Every piece of debris will need to be collected and analysed.

Somewhere among the thousands of shards of metal and glass there will be answers to the first questions: What sort of bombs were they? Did they have timers? Were they detonated by remote control?

The two unexploded devices said to be found at the scene will be a treasure trove for investigators and may even still have fingerprints on them.

More than a hundred people were injured in the blast

Parallel to this will be the investigation into the footage of the event - professional and amateur video, as well as CCTV.

The latter will be scrutinised to see if anyone can be seen acting suspiciously at any point - in the hours, minutes and seconds leading up to the explosions.

Experts will be painstakingly searching through social media to see if there is anything that their trained eye can spot. That is a very labour intensive procedure.

The FBI will also look at the records of mobile phone companies to isolate all the calls made in the area.

They will want to see if the same phone made two calls in quick succession in the few seconds before the two explosions.

They will also cross refer the phone records with any calls made by anyone they bring in for questioning.

Unclaimed runners' bags tell a tragic tale

This is all basic modern intelligence work, but most of it will not answer another important question - what was the motive?

Because America has suffered so many terrorist attacks of a different nature, the investigators will have to consider several possibilities.

The US has experienced attacks inspired by foreign Islamist jihadist philosophy, but it also has a long history of home-grown terrorism.

In recent decades it has seen the sporadic attacks of the Weathermen in the 1970s, bombings of abortion clinics beginning in the 1980s and the Oklahoma bombing in the 1990s which killed 168 people.

Behind the Oklahoma attack was the idea that "Big Government" had to be taken on by violent means.

The idea of "The State" is deeply unpopular in parts of the US especially among the survivalist militias.

Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted for Oklahoma, came from that mindset and regarded himself as a true patriot.

It may be a coincidence that the Boston bombing came on Patriots Day, the annual event commemorating the first major battle of the Revolutionary War.

But the date will have been noted by the authorities as one potential avenue to explore. 

Until things become clearer there are many such potentials, and although the men and women in the FBI will have their gut feelings about motive, they will have to keep an open mind.

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Boston Marathon Explosions: Three Dead

An eight-year-old boy has been named by US media as one of three people killed when two bombs ripped through crowds during the Boston Marathon.

The Boston Globe newspaper identified the youngster as Martin Richard, who lives in the city.

He was reportedly waiting to give his father, who was running in the race, a hug at the finish line when the blasts happened.

The boy's sister lost a leg in the attack and his mother was also seriously injured, according to reports.

A candle was left on the steps of the family home in the Dorchester district and the word "peace" was scrawled in chalk on the sidewalk.

The US is on alert for further attacks as the FBI leads a terror investigation into the bombings, which left more than 140 people injured - many seriously - in the heart of Boston.

Bystanders rushed to the aid of victims

Spectators' cheers turned to screams as the bombs went off within seconds of each other and about 100m (330ft) apart on the same street, blowing out windows and sending smoke and debris into the air.

Emergency workers tore down fencing and carried away seriously injured men and women amid scenes of panic and confusion.

Of the 144 reported injured, 17 are in a critical condition.

Harrowing stories have emerged after doctors confirmed "several amputations" were performed on survivors. Others had limbs torn of by blast forces.

Liz Norden, a mother of five, told the Boston Globe how two of her sons had each lost a leg in the blast.

US media reported ball bearings were packed into the bombs

Both had gone to Boylston Street to see a friend finish the race.

"Ma I'm hurt real bad," Ms Norden quoted one of her sons as telling her in a phone call from the ambulance.

There have been no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack, the most serious in the US since the 9/11 World Trade Centre atrocity. Al Qaeda-linked groups and militant white extremists have attacked targets in America in the past.

The Pakistani Taliban, who have previously threatened attacks in the US, have denied any involvement.

Barack Obama vowed to find and punish those responsible, as a senior White House official said the attacks were being treated as an act of terrorism.

Windows in nearby buildings shattered into the streets

Mr Obama said officials "still do not know who did this or why".

But he vowed: "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."

A European security official with knowledge of the US investigation said initial evidence suggests suicide bombers were not involved.

The marathon is held every year on Patriots' Day, a Massachusetts state holiday which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775.

The explosions happened four hours into the race and about two hours after the men's winner had crossed the line, as amateur runners were reaching the finish.

One witness is comforted near a triage tent in the aftermath

More than 17,000 competitors had completed the race by the time the blasts struck.

TV helicopter footage showed blood on the ground and the desperate efforts of rescuers in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.

A woman near the second bomb, Brighid Wall, 35, said people had frozen, unsure of what to do.

Her husband threw their children to the ground, lay on top of them and another man lay on top of them and said: "Don't get up, don't get up."

She said she saw six to eight people bleeding profusely, including one man who was kneeling, dazed and bleeding from his head. Another person was on the ground covered in blood and not moving.

"My ears are zinging", she said. "Their ears are zinging. It was so forceful. It knocked us to the ground."

Bill Iffrig, a runner who was filmed falling to the ground as the first blast went off, said "the shockwave must have hit me. My legs felt like noodles". He was able to walk away and speak to reporters at the scene.

Roupen Bastajian, 35, a state police officer from Rhode Island, had just finished the race when he heard the blasts.

"There were people all over the floor," he said. "We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs.

"A lot of people amputated ... At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing."

One British runner, Abi Griffiths, 34, from London, told Sky News the scene was in a "state of chaos".

She said: "Police were everywhere, we were being evacuated out of the area and it was really eerie."

A senior US intelligence official said another two unexploded bombs were found and disarmed near the end of the 26.2mile (42km) route.

A police officer involved in the search in the suburb of Revere

No one has been arrested, although officers searched an apartment in the Boston suburb of Revere as part of the investigation.

A no-fly zone was also put in place over the city as security was tightened and flights bound for Boston's Logan International Airport were briefly held up at other airports.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis said the authorities had received "no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen".

At Massachusetts General Hospital, Alisdair Conn, chief of emergency services, said: "This is something I've never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war."

Police and doctors quoted by US media said ball bearings had been packed into the injuries, causing horrific injuries.

A bomb squad officer inspects a bag along the route

British police are now reviewing security plans for this Sunday's London Marathon - the next major international marathon.

The London race's chief executive, Nick Bitel, said it was "a very sad day for athletics and for our friends in marathon running".

More than 25,000 people were registered as taking part in the race, 374 of whom were British. There were also 108 Irish athletes.

The British Foreign Office has said it is not aware of any British nationals who have been injured but that it will continue to monitor the situation.

There were reports of a third blast at the JFK library a few miles away but that was later confirmed as a fire that was believed to be unrelated to the blasts.

A police officer stands guard on the morning after Monday's attack

Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Twitter: "The scenes from Boston are shocking and horrific - my thoughts are with all those who have been affected."

Boston officials said it would "not be business as usual" in the city, with random checks of backpacks and bags on public transport. Security has also been stepped up in Washington and New York.

Russian sports officials have also announced increased security planning for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in the wake of the explosions.

:: The British Foreign Office said friends and relatives concerned about British nationals in Boston can call the Boston Mayor's Office emergency hotline on 00 1 617 635 4500.

:: In the US, concerned relatives can call 617 635 4500, and anybody with information about the blasts should call 1 800 494 tips.

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