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Bombs in Madrid
I haven't seen this reported here, but this morning there were four explosions at train stations in Spain. Here's an article from the BBC website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3500452.stm
Marty
I haven't seen this reported here, but this morning there were four explosions at train stations in Spain. Here's an article from the BBC website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3500452.stm
Scores die in Madrid bomb carnage
A string of deadly blasts has hit three Madrid train stations during the rush hour with latest reports speaking of more than 100 people killed.
Dazed and bloodied commuters staggered from the Atocha station in the heart of the Spanish capital where two blasts destroyed a suburban train.
Two other train stations were also hit by the near simultaneous explosions.
Spain's government has blamed Basque separatist group Eta for the attacks which come ahead of Sunday's elections.
Blood donations
"This is a massacre," said government spokesman Eduardo Zaplana.
He condemned what he called "an attack on Spanish democracy", calling Eta "a criminal gang of killers."
The authorities say no warning was given before the blasts.
The explosions at Atocha happened at about 0630 GMT as a train was pulling into the station.
"People started to scream and run, some bumping into each other," Juani Fernandez, a civil servant who was on the platform, told the Associated Press.
" I saw people with blood pouring from them, people on the ground."
There were scenes of carnage at Atocha, a huge rail station used by commuter and inter-city trains, which also has a metro station.
There were similar scenes of destruction and chaos at two smaller commuter stations: El Pozo and Santa Eugenia.
Hundreds of people were injured in the attacks. The emergency services have set up a treatment centre in a sports hall and Madrid hospitals have made an urgent appeal for blood donations.
Spain's political parties have suspended campaigning for Sunday's poll.
Bomb plots
There has been no claim of responsibility from Eta, but across the political spectrum in Spain there has been widespread condemnation of the group.
Interior Minister Angel Acebes, speaking from the scene of the blast at Atocha, said, "Have no doubt, those responsible will be caught and will pay for their crime."
The Basque regional president, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, stressed that Eta does not represent the Basque people.
"When Eta attacks, the Basque heart breaks into a thousand pieces," he said.
The Spanish government has declared three days of mourning for the victims and called on Spaniards to stage rallies on Friday evening to condemn the attacks.
If it is confirmed as Eta's work, it would be the deadliest attack by the group, which has killed more than 800 people in its armed struggle for independence from the Spanish state since the late 1960s.
Last month, two suspected Eta members were arrested as they headed to Madrid in a truck laden with explosives.
Spanish police said they were arrested about 140km outside the city with 500kg of explosives hidden in the vehicle.
And last December, Spanish authorities said they foiled a Basque separatist plot to blow up a train at a Madrid rail station.
France has stepped up its police presence on its border with Spain in response to Thursday's attacks, the French news agency AFP reports.
Close co-operation between the two countries has led to dozens of arrests of suspected Eta members in southern France in recent years.
Marty