The French foreign ministry on Tuesday expressed support and solidarity to the United States after three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed in explosions that hit the city of Boston on Monday.

"Our thoughts are with the victims' families and the injured," the ministry said in a statement, "We also want to assure the local and federal authorities of our support and our wholehearted solidarity."

Two bombs exploded on Monday in the crowded streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing at least three people and injuring more than 140 in a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs.

The French foreign ministry said France's general consulate in Boston, the embassy in Washington "as well as all our posts in the United States are fully mobilized and at the disposal of our compatriots."

French President Hollande has already pledged "full solidarity of France to the authorities and the American people" in a statement late on Monday night. Endi