Resident Visiting Boston Close to Marathon Blasts; Still No Word on Fate of 16 Greenwich Residents Registered for Race

Updated, 10:05 p.m.

Greenwich resident Bonnie Bancroft and her two children, and the child of a friend, enjoyed the Boston Red Sox win over the Tampa Bay Rays on a sunny Monday afternoon.

The trip to Boston was to be capped off with a downtown Beantown dinner with friends, including a young woman from Greenwich attending Harvard.

But not being familiar with Boston's city road system Bancroft and the children ended up in the middle of the fray—the result of the explosions that claimed the lives of three people—including an eight-year-old boy.

"We were in our car and got as far as the barricades," Bancroft told Greenwich Patch. "There was this explosion—at that point, nobody know what it was….with one way streets (they weren't sure of where to head) ... all of a sudden people were running and screaming. I had three kids in the car, there were police cars, sirens," Bancroft recalled during a telephone interview from her home late Monday.

The group decided to call off their appointed dinner date as Boston Police tightened their security network throughout the city. "We had a hotel….we were supposed to meet another girl from Greenwich who goes to Harvard but she said they’re telling everyone to stay at home ... that it was probably best not to meet."

So Bancroft and the children headed home back to Greenwich. 

"The amazing thing was that we were as far away as Worcester—about 45 miles away and there were still police cars on the highway going towards Boston … I never saw so many police cars, unmarked cars," Bancroft said as her voice trailed off.

"We were just a couple blocks away…it was just sad and awful…I just feel so sad for those people," Bancroft said.

Original story:

Sixteen registrants to today’s Boston Marathon—where two explosions on Boylston Avenue at about 2:45 p.m. have killed two and injured at least 22, according to the Boston Police Department—gave event organizers a Greenwich address.

Greenwich Patch is withholding their names until we know their status—anyone with information on who is safe, unaccounted for or injured, please use the comments thread below.

According to South End Patch, area buildings are being evacuated, including the apartments at the Prudential.”

“All businesses along Boylston Street are being evacuated and officials are urging everyone to avoid Copley Square,” South End Patch says. The area of the marathon’s finish line has been cordoned off as a crime scene.

Veteran Boston marathoner from Maryland who didn't go this year says the explosions were set at the time and location to injure or kill the most people.

A team of parents from Sandy Hook, running to honor those gunned to death Dec. 14, including 20 children and six women, all are safe, Newtown Patch reports.

Go to South End Patch for more information as it becomes available.

A special hotline phone number has been set up for families to call for information about relatives, according to Gov. Dannel Malloy's office. Concerned Families can call 617-635-4500.