Two explosions shattered the euphoria of the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday leaving several runners injured, according to the Associated Press. Authorities were sent out on the course to carry off the injured while the stragglers in the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton were rerouted away from the smoke site of the blasts.

Competitors and race organizers fled the chaos in tears. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had originally been set up to care for fatigued runners.

"There are a lot of people down," one man, whose bib No. 17528 identified him as Frank Deruyter of North Carolina, told the Associated Press. He was not injured, but marathon workers were carrying one woman, who did not appear to be a runner, to the medical area as blood gushed from her leg. A Boston police officer was wheeled from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.