Update as of 11 p.m. can be read here.

Update as of 9:30 p.m. can be read here.

Note: Read more on Kent runners participating in the Boston Marathon here.

Update as of 6:37 p.m.

According to the Boston Marathon official site, five runners in the marathon were listed as being from Kent, Ohio. One of those listed, Christopher Was, is a Kent State professor in lifespan development and education sciences.

Was said he had finished the race when the explosion happened, though some of the other runners in his group had not. Nobody in his group sustained injuries in the explosions.

“We actually saw the explosions from our hotel when it happened,” Was said. “What happened was we finished the race and had been finished for 40 minutes and were in the hotel room, two blocks north of the finish line. We heard the first explosion, and it sounded like a cannon…We looked out the window and the second one came. Plumes of smoke were in the street. We were in disbelief.”

Was and the other members of his group aren’t allowed to leave the hotel for 24 hours.

“It is quiet,” Was said. “Most people are hanging out in their rooms. There are some people in the streets, but not nearly as many in a typical day. I know other people from Kent area here — not sure [about their] status[es]. As far as how many injured, all we know is what’s on news. Hopeful everyone from [Northeast Ohio] made it safe. We’re all shaken by this.”

Was said this was the first time he had qualified to compete in the Boston Marathon. He placed 117th running in the race. There were more than 23,000 people who ran in the race this year.

Update as of 5:16 p.m.

BOSTON (AP) — Boston police say there’s been a third explosion in the city, following two blasts near the finish line of the Boston Marathon that killed two people and injured many others.

Police Commissioner Edward Davis says authorities aren’t certain that the explosion at the JFK Library was related to the other blasts, but they’re treating them as if they are.

David says there are no injuries stemming from the third explosion. He urged people to stay indoors and not congregate in large groups.

Original posting 3:24 p.m.

BOSTON (AP) — Two bombs exploded near the finish of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing two people, injuring 22 others and sending authorities rushing to aid wounded spectators, race organizers and police said.

One runner, a Rhode Island state trooper, said he saw at least two dozen people with very serious injuries, including missing limbs.

About two hours after the winners crossed the line, there was a loud explosion on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the photo bridge that marks the finish line. Another explosion could be heard a few seconds later.

The Boston Marathon said that bombs caused the two explosions and that organizers were working with authorities to determine what happened. The Boston Police Department said two people were killed and 23 others injured.

Competitors and race volunteers were crying as they fled the chaos. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners. Authorities went onto the course to carry away the injured while stragglers in the 26.2-mile race were rerouted away from the smoking site.

Roupen Bastajian, a 35-year-old state trooper from Greenville, R.I., had just finished the race when they put the heat blanket wrap on him and he heard the first blast.

“I started running toward the blast. And 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.”

A Boston police officer was wheeled from the course with a leg injury that was bleeding.

“There are a lot of people down,” said one man, whose bib No. 17528 identified him as Frank Deruyter of North Carolina. 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.

Smoke rose from the blasts, fluttering through the national flags lining the route of the world’s oldest and most prestigious marathon. TV helicopter footage showed blood staining the pavement in the popular shopping and tourist area known as the Back Bay.

“There are people who are really, really bloody,” said Laura McLean, a runner from Toronto, who was in the medical tent being treated for dehydration when she was pulled out to make room for victims of the explosions. “They were pulling them into the medical tent.”

Cherie Falgoust was waiting for her husband, who was running the race.

“I was expecting my husband any minute,” she said. “I don’t know what this building is … it just blew. Just a big bomb, a loud boom, and then glass everywhere. Something hit my head. I don’t know what it was. I just ducked.”

Runners who had not finished the race were diverted straight down Commonwealth Avenue and into a family meeting area, according to an emergency plan that had been in place.