[source: BBC news] The explosions happened near the finish line of the marathon
People from Northern Ireland have been describing their ordeals as they were caught up in Boston's Marathon Day bombing.
Three people have been killed and more than 100 injured in the blasts.
The FBI described it as a "potential terrorist inquiry".
Former boxing world champion Eamon Loughran, from Ballymena, County Antrim was in Boston for the marathon. He said he prayed for three hours as he waited to find out if his wife was safe.
Mr Loughran had arranged to meet his wife, Angela, by the flags at the finish line, exactly where the first device exploded.
He said he went back to his hotel, and said they both burst out crying when she walked through the door several hours later.
Former Ireland correspondent of the Boston Globe, Kevin Cullen, said the father of a young boy who died in the blasts, had just finished the race.
"When he finished the race his young son left the sidewalk, he went on to Boylston Street and hugged his dad and then he went back on the sidewalk and his father went on to register his time," he said.
"The bomb exploded, the boy was killed, his mother was severely injured."
Mr Cullen said he knew a firefighter who picked up the dead boy's sister.
"My friend the firefighter picked the girl up and carried her to an ambulance," he added.
"He said that when he put her down he realised her leg was missing.
"He is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan and he told me what he saw today was worse than anything he saw in a warzone."
James McDaid from Coleraine is a surgeon at the main hospital in Boston - Massachusetts General.
"Earlier on things were on high alert but now it seems things are settling down a little and the number of casualties is relatively manageable," he said.
"A couple of hours ago it was real pandemonium here, non-stop sirens, police and ambulances all around the place, but now I hear a siren once every five or 10 minutes.
"The emergency room has been very busy. I saw 20 or 30 ambulances go by, but with regard to exactly how many casualties came to Massachusetts I'm not quite sure. I have heard reports of 20, 30 or 40 in that region."
A command centre was set up at the hospital in the aftermath of the bombings.
"People have been very emotionally charged," Mr McDaid added.
"A number of people have been contacting their loved ones to make sure they are ok.
"I called my wife to make sure she was ok, with the kids at home.
"Being from Northern Ireland bombs are something that will never be commonplace, but it is something that we are perhaps somewhat familiar with whereas here in Boston it is something that really is alien to people and it brings back echoes of 9/11 in New York, so people are upset about it in the hospital."
We must think carefully with the news.
There are many others who has become a victim without cause.
This is not only about terrorism but also about the war!
Millions of people were uprooted by the war and everyone is haunted by the fear of war.
Also, the victims of the war were children and young people.
I want peace and I wish many people want peace, too.
If many people think carefully with the peace, it will chances for peace in the world.
