Spain - At least one explosion at Madrid train station [186 dead, over 1000 wounded, graphic photos]

Associated Press | March 10, 2004

[HAL9000]

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- At least one explosion rocked a Madrid train station Thursday, news reports and witnesses said.

Police cars raced to the Atocha station after the early morning explosion. An Associated Press reporter saw a woman with a bloodied face outside the station. Medics were seen treating at least three people.

People living near the station said they heard at least two blasts.

MORE...

[PureSolace]

Who usually gets pics first? I usually just check the AP pic gallery at Yahoo... but does anyone know of a site where pictures come in faster? uncensored? etc?

[yonif]

See #19

[yonif]

Israel Radio reports pictures are already on Spanish TV.

[yonif]

Spanish reporter says she saw 4 dead on railway tracks.

Still much confusion in Madrid.

[PureSolace]

Reuters
Thursday, March 11, 2004; 2:37 AM


MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - Explosions rocked Madrid's railway system, killing five people Thursday, three days before a Spanish election that has focused on the ruling party's tough line against the armed Basque separatist group ETA.



State television, citing witnesses, said five were killed after three explosions at railway stations in southern Madrid.

Police said at least three were killed in the blasts, which took place on packed trains during the morning rush hour.

Spain, which has long had a problem of Basque separatist violence, holds a general election Sunday.

The ruling center-right Popular Party is campaigning in part on its tough line against ETA and its defense of Spain's constitution in the face of demands for greater autonomy from the Basque country and Catalonia.

Police were evacuating Madrid's main Atocha train station after the blasts.

[yonif]

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- At least four explosions have ripped through Madrid's Atocha railway station during morning rush hour -- with one of the blasts hitting a crowded commuter train car, according to Spanish media reports.

SER radio reported many casualties after one of the explosions hit a train arriving at the station from the eastern Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares.

The first blast struck a vacant train car and soon after a second explosion hit the crowded commuter train, SER reported.

Police and emergency services were evacuating the capital's main Atocha station which serves both city and long-distance trains.

Firefighers say it is too early to give any casualty figures, only saying there are some dead and injured.

Spanish media, quoting witnesses, were quick to link the blasts to Basque separatist group, ETA, but no one has yet claimed responsibility.

A planned Christmas Eve attack on Spain's train system by ETA was foiled last year.

The blasts hit three days before a Spanish election that has been focusing on the ruling parties tough line against ETA.

Listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, ETA -- which stands for Basque Homeland and Freedom -- has killed 838 people since 1968 as it presses its demands for an independent state.

[yonif]

Israel Radio: Large Scale Terror Attacks. At least 30 to 40 murdered at one station. Another station has at least 15 murdered. 100's of injured. Huge panic in Madrid.

[PureSolace]

I hope Israel Radio is exagerating. prayers sent!

[PureSolace]

from Bloomberg... Madrid Blasts Kill Five People on Trains, Spanish TVE Reports March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Madrid trains crowded with morning commuters were hit by four explosions that have killed at least five people, Spanish television station TVE reported. Spain's Red Cross said at least 200 people were injured. At least two train cars were destroyed and another damaged on railways into the Atocha train station in southern Madrid, the channel said. One of the lines hit connected the city of Guadalajara, northeast of Madrid, with the capital city. An Interior Ministry spokesman made no immediate comment. Last Updated: March 11, 2004 02:38 EST

[yonif]

Sky News photo:

Also, Another media source is reporting a total of at least 45 dead. Evacuating of casualties still going on.

[PureSolace]

These Terorrists have to be stopped. Keep the information flowing.

[yonif]

[yonif]

[HAL9000]

El Pais via Babelfish -

URGENT More than 50 died in a chain of attacks in Madrid - 8,45 h.

[PureSolace]

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - At least 15 people were feared dead after three explosions on packed commuter trains in Madrid during the Thursday morning rush hour in an attack that police said appeared to be the work of Basque separatist group ETA.
Spanish television news station CNN+, quoting emergency services, said there were at least 15 dead in the attack three days before a national election. A police spokesman said: "That's the figure they are talking to me about."

[yonif]

[HAL9000]

El Pais via Babelfish -

More than 50 dead and hurt tens of in a brutal attack in the network of neighborhoods of Madrid

AGENCIES/ELPAIS.es - (So large 5 kb.)

Four explosions have taken place to first hour this morning, in the heat of rush hour, in the environs of the station of Atocha of Madrid, concretely to the height of Santa Eugenia, the Well, Entrevi'as and Atocha. Between 30 and 40 people they have passed away in the train that was on the verge of entering the station of Atocha, whereas in the explosion registered in Santa Eugenia 15 mortal victims would have taken place.

[PureSolace]

Here's the AP flavor....

15 Reported Killed in Madrid Explosions
8 minutes ago - AP / Yahoo!



MADRID, Spain - Powerful explosions rocked several Madrid train stations during Thursday morning rush hour, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens, news reports said.



The reports said two bombs went off in a commuter train as it arrived at bustling Atocha station in the Spanish capital.


Blasts rocked two other stops on a commuter line leading to Atocha, the news agency Efe reported. Spanish National Radio quoted witnesses as saying they saw people lying on the ground and train cars destroyed.


At least 15 were killed aboard a train on the line leading to Atocha, Efe said, quoting fire department officials.


There was no claim of responsibility but police have been on alert for Basque separatist violence ahead of general elections Sunday.


Cesar Gomez, a Madrid rescue services official, said there was a "multitude" of injured at Atocha.


A woman who lives near the El Pozo station on the line leading to Atocha said "the scene I am seeing is hellish. People running toward Atocha however they can."


The woman said she saw a boy or young man on the ground who appeared to have died.


"I can see people inside the remains of the train," the unidentified woman told Spanish national radio.


An Associated Press reporter saw a woman with a bloodied face outside Atocha station. Medics were seen treating at least three people.


A man was taken away on a stretcher.


People living near the station said they heard at least two blasts.


Atocha is a huge downtown complex with a subway station and both commuter and long-distance trains.


About an hour after the blasts, people who had gathered blocks from the Atocha station stampeded away, apparently fearing another bomb.

[yonif]

[zarf]

The ETA deserve to have their nationalistic aspirations satisfied by the racist, oppressive Spaniards and the international community. The ETA only seek justice. It is in no way terrorism.

I think Javier Solena would agree with that sentiment......ya think... huh?