Prime
Minister Jose Marie Aznar took blame completely to ETA, saying that he
is bent on eradicating terrorism.
The
attacks seemed deliberately staged only 72 hours ahead of Spanish
general elections, when 34.5 million voters are expected to decide
whether to keep ruling conservatives in power or hand a win to
opposition Socialists.
The
conservative ruling party - which has taken a hard-line stance against
ETA - is currently leading in the polls.
Spanish
officials said late in February 2004 that police had averted a bomb
attack by ETA planned for the election campaign period.
Basque
regional government leader Juan Jose Ibarretxe, a moderate nationalist
pushing for greater autonomy from Madrid, slammed ETA as “vermin”.
“They
want to dynamite democracy. They are assassins, vermin. They are not
Basques,” Ibarretxe said at his headquarters in the Basque regional
capital of Vitoria in northern Spain.
All
political parties said they had suspended their meetings for the day,
and communist candidate Izquierda Unida Gaspar Llamazares also
denounced what he termed "the Nazi savagery of ETA”.
ETA
has waged a three-decade violent campaign for independence that has
killed more than 850 people. Recent attacks have included a string of
explosions targeting Spanish resorts in summertime.
The
European Union and the United States have listed the ETA a terrorist
group.
But,
so far, there has been no claim of responsibility, according to CNN.
Casualties
 |
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Prime
Minister Jose Marie Aznar took blame completely to ETA
|
Spanish
Emergency services spokesman Pedro Calvo said more than 400 people
were injured in the rush hour blasts.
At
the time of the blasts, the trains were located at one of the
capital's two main railway stations, Atocha, and at two other stations
in a southeastern suburb, police said.
One
train was severed neatly in two places, after blasts ripped gaping
holes into a passenger car and left a gnarled mass of charred metal
where seats and aisles once had been.
Police
and firemen evacuated buildings around Atocha station, where interior
ministry sources said 29 people had been killed, for fear of more
explosions.
Interior
Minister Angel Acebes was at the station, joining other senior
government members including Deputy Prime Minister Rodrigo Rato and
Madrid mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon.
Emergency
services on site were carrying the injured on stretchers to waiting
ambulances, while passersby sat stunned on curbsides, in blood-soaked
and ripped clothing.
