Bystanders, runners and officials have been praised as 'heroic' for putting themselves in harms way to help those injured in horrific twin bomb attacks in Boston.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Two loud, consecutive bomb explosions diffused near a large group of spectators just before 3pm local time on Monday (5am AEST on Tuesday), about four hours after the start of the men's leg of the 117th Boston Marathon.
Video footage captured on mobile phones by bystanders and television crews showed citizens quickly responding by moving the wreckage of event barriers and spectator stands to tend to the screams and cries for help.
Others were filmed heading in the opposite direction.
The world community has heaped praise on those who put themselves at risk following the blasts to help the injured and assist in the rescue effort.
Sue Pritchard from the New South Wales State Emergency Service said no one could predict how they will respond in an emergency.
"I think people, often when they are faced with serious situations, there are people that will step forward and help and the emergency services. It's a wonderful thing," she said.
"I don't know what it is really that sparks that. It's just heroic, maybe an adrenalin rush and people just want to do something, they just can't stand by and not help and that's fantastic.
"Often to you find that people in that scene have an emergency services background, they might be nurses, doctors, or police or other emergency services personnel and they're not on call they just step in to help because they are trained to do because it comes automatically to them."
Marathon runners who had just crossed the finish line before the blasts occurred were also seen running to a nearby hospital to donate blood for victims.