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Terrorist attack in Madrid
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| Ian^ |
Scores die in Madrid bomb carnage
The blasts hit during the morning rush hour
A string of deadly blasts has hit three Madrid train stations during the rush hour with latest reports speaking of more than 170 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.
'Criminal killers'
"This is a massacre," said government spokesman Eduardo Zaplana.
Commuters describe chaos
Where the blasts happened
He condemned what he called "an attack on Spanish democracy", calling Eta "a criminal gang of killers."
However, Interior Minister Angel Acebes has said Spain is "not ruling anything out" in its investigation of who is responsible.
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."
Atocha is 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.
The authorities say that, so far, 173 people are known to have died.
At least 600 people have been injured and Madrid's hospitals, swamped with casualties, have made an urgent appeal for blood donations.
Mourning
Spain's political parties suspended campaigning for Sunday's poll.
The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says that, in the absence of an Eta claim of responsibility, there will inevitably be continuing speculation about other potential actors.
Spain's strong support for the US and Britain in the run-up to war with Iraq could make Spain a target in the eyes of shadowy Islamic groups, he says.
Such a suggestion has already been made by the leader of the banned Basque separatist party Batasuna, who denied that Eta could have been behind the attacks.
Arnald Otegi pointed the finger instead at what he called "the Arab resistance".
Mr 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."
"We do not rule anything out," Mr Acebes said when asked if he believed Eta was behind the attacks or if it could have been al-Qaeda.
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.
Bomb plots
If it is confirmed as Eta's work, it would be their deadliest attack in more than three decades of armed struggle for independence.
another sad day :( :( :( Eta, Al'Quaida or other ? who knows |
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| Vigilante |
I just saw this on Sky News
the terroists!
This senseless violence and the loss of innocent lives pisses me off so much.....
:whip: :whip: :whip: :whip: :whip: :whip: |
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| fmanolo |
horrible!!! :nervous:
it's time to pray for the victims of those massacre |
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| UnBracKo |
Atm:
173 deaths
898 wounded persons
It's a terrible thing. The biggest terrorist attack in the Western Europe.
I was in the uni when the professor told us the suspension of the rest of the clases. Then at 12 o'clock we did 5 minutes of silence.
Its a disaster! you ETA!!
All the tv's are showing the images and it's really hard watch all these dead bodies and injuried persons.
The catastroph happened minutes before 8 o'clock and many university students and workers from towns around the capital were going to their respective colleges, business, factories....
I'm very sad :( |
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| T-1000 |
R.I.P to the deceased.....
Mass murder is so evil....the bastards who did this will die a slow painful death... |
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| Streakfury |
I heard on Radio 1 this morning that it was some terrorist group who want a certain part of Spain to become a separate country that did it. They didn't give any more detail than that though.
What's the point?? Senseless killing.
:( |
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| YaleTrance |
ETA. :whip:
I have a lot of family and friends there in Madrid. My best friend is doing a semester abroad there but the lines don't work. Hopefully he's alright. :confused: |
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| donegalredneck |
Aren't some of you kind of jumping on the bandwagon there, automatically blaming ETA? I can't see why that organisation would intentionally target Spanish civilians. It's not like them. There has been speculation that it has been them, of course, but their so-called political wing, Herri Batasuna, say they believe ETA isn't responsible. Another theory at this stage is that it was Islamic extremists, which is possible and due to the nature of the attack it seems quite plausible.
It's my guess that if it was ETA, it was an accident. It would be self defeating for them to target civilians. Also there was no prior warning of bombs having been planted, which is totally uncharacteristic of them also.
What has happened in Ireland in the past is bombings intent on killing civilians have occurred (carried out by British agents and loyalists) and then republicans have been blamed for the atrocities in an attempt to undermine support for militant resistance against the Brits. It's unlikely here, but not impossible. |
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| dukes |
| hopefully this will wake countries up to the fact we HAVE to act! set 11th was not a one off and no country is safe! makes me so angry that people do this in the name of "god" its so backwards and wrong. |
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| robin |
186 deads :(
and eta says it wasn't them.. while they useually admit it if they done something (right?)
spain has soldiers in iraq right? mayby that has something to do with it then :( |
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