FBI releases photographs of Boston bombing suspects

The FBI has released video footage and a series of photographs showing two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Two men, dressed in dark clothes, and wearing baseball caps were described as “persons of interest”. The FBI called on the public for help in identifying the men.

"Someone out there knows these individuals," FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers said at a news conference. He said the FBI considers the men to be armed and extremely dangerous.

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Members of the Boston Police line the Washington Street outside of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross church during the interfaith service. Photograph: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

“At this time these are the two people of interest to the FBI. “The only photos that should be officially relied upon in this investigation are those you see before you today. “There’s no additional imminent danger that we’re aware of right now.”

The man in the white cap was seen setting down a backpack at one site near the finish line, Mr DesLauriers said. The bombs were made from ordinary kitchen pressure cookers packed with metal and ball bearings. Investigators suspect the devices were then hidden in duffel bags and left on the ground. They exploded within 15 seconds of each other near the finishing line as thousands of runners were pouring in.

Earlier, president Barack Obama told a memorial service for the Boston bombing victims today that US authorities "will find" whoever carried out the attack that killed three people as investigators search for two men seen on a video of the scene shortly before the blasts.

Mr Obama said Americans would not be intimidated by the twin blasts, which also injured 176 people in a crowd of thousands at the finish line of the world-famous marathon on Monday.

"If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorise us, to shake us from those values ... that define us as Americans, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it to. Not here in Boston," Mr Obama said at the memorial today.

While investigators have made no arrests yet, Mr Obama said of the perpetrator or perpetrators of the attack, "We will find you and you will face justice."

Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed earlier today that the FBI was searching for people seen on a video taken near the finish line.

"There is some video that has raised the question of those that the FBI would like to speak with," Ms Napolitano said in Congressional testimony today. "I wouldn't characterise them as suspects under the technical term. But we do need the public's help in locating these individuals."

The Boston bombings put Americans on edge and security was tightened in major cities across the United States. Mail sent to Mr Obama and federal officials that authorities believed contained the deadly poison ricin, reminded Americans of anthrax mail attacks in the wake of the September 11, hijacked plane attacks nearly 12 years ago.

The memorial service took place a day after the FBI arrested a Mississippi man in connection with the letters. The FBI said there was no indication of a connection between the ricin letters and the Boston bomb attacks.

Mr Obama was also due to meet families of victims of the bombing and first responders while in Boston, a White House spokesman told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Boston mayor Tom Menino, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and Cardinal Sean O'Malley also spoke at the service. Former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney also attended.

Hundreds of people crowded outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston's South End, about a mile (1.6 km) from the bombing site, where police officers stood outside their squad cars, listening to Mr Obama over the radio.

"President Obama knows how important the city of Boston is to the nation and the world," said 55-year-old John Snyder, who had joined the line before sunrise. "He is bringing his light to us for much-needed healing."

Investigators believe the Boston bombs were fashioned out of pressure cookers and packed with shrapnel. Ten victims lost limbs, and emergency room doctors reported plucking nails and ball bearing from the wounded.

Police had considered making an appeal to the public for more information at a news conference yesterday, a US government source said, but the FBI canceled it after a number of delays.

Boston Police and FBI officials said today that they had not determined whether they would publicly release more details of the investigation.

The bombs in Boston killed an 8-year-old boy, Martin Richard; a 29-year-old woman, Krystle Campbell; and a Boston University graduate student and Chinese citizen, Lu Lingzi.

Before his visit, Mr Obama declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts, a move that makes federal funding available to the state as it copes with the aftermath of the bombing.

The crowded scene along the race course in central Boston on Monday was recorded by surveillance cameras and media outlets, providing investigators with significant video footage of the area before and after the two blasts.

Based on the shards of metal, fabric, wires and a battery recovered at the scene, the focus turned to whoever may have placed homemade bombs in pressure cooker pots and taken them in heavy black nylon bags to the finish line of the world-famous race.

Tens of thousands of people turn out to watch and run in the marathon, which comes on a state holiday and is one of New England's best-attended sporting events.

"This is Boston, a city with courage, compassion and strength that knows no bounds," said Menino, who was rolled to the podium in a wheelchair but stood for his remarks despite breaking a leg over the weekend. "We love the brave ones who felt the blast and still raced through the smoke with ringing in his ears ... to answer cries of those in need."

Reuters