Leeds runner at Boston blast

A family caught up in the horrific Boston marathon bombing have been reunited back home in Yorkshire.They flew back to the UK as a manhunt for the prime suspects in the terrorist attack was played out live on television.

Jez Hughes ran the marathon for the Firefighters' Charity.

Jez Hughes ,a firefighter from Morley in Leeds had just finished the Boston marathon but thanks to a last minute change of plan by his wife, he and his family escaped the blast by minutes. We spoke to him about how lucky an escape they had had.

Athletes and their families from our region are planning their return journeys after being caught up in the biggest terrorist attack to take place on American soil since nine eleven.

The two bomb blasts at the end of the Boston marathon killed three, critically injured 17 and left another 150 in hospital.

As far as we know no-one from our part of the world has been hurt - some though have stories of amazing escapes.

With a major investigation underway - the people of Boston in Lincolnshire - the mother town of the city in mourning, has paid its respects. Jon Hill reports.

Cllr Colin Brotherton, the Mayor of Boston in Lincolnshire, has sent a letter of condolence to. his counterpart in Boston, Massachusetts. The two communities are twinned and share strong bonds.

A number of memorial stones are in place outside Boston Stump to commemorate those who travelled from the town to Boston MA. A candle has also been lit inside the church itself as a mark of respect.

Colleagues of a West Yorkshire firefighter who narrowly escaped the explosions at the Boston Marathon, have been speaking of their relief that he and his family are unhurt. It is thought Jeremy Hughes, who works at Morley Fire Station, crossed the finish line just minutes before the blasts.

He had been due to meet his wife Deborah there, when she rang and asked if they could meet instead at the family area - a couple of blocks away. The move meant the family had a lucky escape. It has been an anxious time for his workmates at the fire station, as Watch Commander Jamie Lister explains.

Councillor Colin Brotherton Mayor of Boston has written to the Mayor of Boston MA to express his condolences.

Anthony Meenaghan, 21, an architectural technology student from Sheffield Hallam University who is on a work placement in Boston, tweeted

A runner's camera captured the first explosion at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon. Three people were killed and more than 100 injured as two blasts sent smoke and debris soaring into the air.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis has told reporters there were three separate explosions in Boston - the first two near the finish line of the marathon and a third at the John F. Kennedy Library in the city.

He said that police were treating the explosions as related.

Here is an excerpt from the briefing he just gave to reporters: