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 at least 131 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.
The scene I am seeing is hellish
Witness
Commuters describe chaos
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.
HAVE YOUR SAY
There was a very big blast in the trains and everything that happened after that has been very confused
Ignacio, Madrid, Spain
Send your eyewitness reports
From the initial confusion, the scale of death and destruction has become ever more apparent.
The emergency services say 131 people are so far known to have died but warn that the figure could rise further.
At least 400 people were injured and Madrid's hospitals, swamped with casualties, made an urgent appeal for blood donations.
Mourning
Spain's political parties have suspended campaigning for Sunday's poll.
Emergency numbers for worried relatives
(00 34) 900 200 222
(00 34) 915 767 000
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.
Bomb plots
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.
MAIN ETA ATTACKS
July 2003: Bomb attacks in Alicante and Benidorm, 13 injured. Further explosion at Santander airport days later
January and February 2000: Car bombs explode in Madrid and the Basque capital Vitoria
June 1998: Car bomb kills Popular Party councillor Manuel Zamarreno
July 1997: ETA kidnaps and kills Basque councillor Miguel Angel Blanco
June 1987: 21 shoppers are killed in an attack on a Barcelona supermarket
1980: In ETA's bloodiest year, 118 people are killed
December 1973: Assassination of Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco
ETA: Key events
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.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3500452.stm
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 at least 131 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.
The scene I am seeing is hellish
Witness
Commuters describe chaos
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.
HAVE YOUR SAY
There was a very big blast in the trains and everything that happened after that has been very confused
Ignacio, Madrid, Spain
Send your eyewitness reports
From the initial confusion, the scale of death and destruction has become ever more apparent.
The emergency services say 131 people are so far known to have died but warn that the figure could rise further.
At least 400 people were injured and Madrid's hospitals, swamped with casualties, made an urgent appeal for blood donations.
Mourning
Spain's political parties have suspended campaigning for Sunday's poll.
Emergency numbers for worried relatives
(00 34) 900 200 222
(00 34) 915 767 000
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.
Bomb plots
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.
MAIN ETA ATTACKS
July 2003: Bomb attacks in Alicante and Benidorm, 13 injured. Further explosion at Santander airport days later
January and February 2000: Car bombs explode in Madrid and the Basque capital Vitoria
June 1998: Car bomb kills Popular Party councillor Manuel Zamarreno
July 1997: ETA kidnaps and kills Basque councillor Miguel Angel Blanco
June 1987: 21 shoppers are killed in an attack on a Barcelona supermarket
1980: In ETA's bloodiest year, 118 people are killed
December 1973: Assassination of Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco
ETA: Key events
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.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3500452.stm
