ETA to blame for bombs - Minister

Powerful bombs ripped through three busy Madrid railway stations today just three days before general elections, killing at least 173 rush-hour commuters and wounding more than 600 in Spain’s worst terrorist attack. The government blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

“ETA had been looking for a massacre in Spain,” Interior Minister Angel Acebes said after an emergency cabinet meeting, citing recent thwarted attacks.

“Unfortunately, today it achieved its goal.”

He said security services knew it was ETA because the group attempted a similar attack on Christmas Eve, placing bombs on two trains bound for a Madrid station.

He also noted that on February 29, police intercepted a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 500 quantities of 1,000 pounds of explosives and blamed ETA.

“It is absolutely clear and evident that the terrorist organisation ETA was looking to commit a major attack,” Acebes said.

The bombs exploded around 7.30am (6.30 Irish time) in a commuter train arriving at Atocha station, a bustling hub for subway, commuter and long-distance trains in Spain’s capital.

Blasts also rocked trains or platforms at two stations on a commuter line leading to Atocha.

Acebes said there were 13 explosions altogether, but three were controlled blasts set off by police.

People in tears streamed away from Atocha station as rescue workers carried bodies covered in sheets of gold fabric.

People covered with blood sat on kerbs, using mobile phones to tell loved ones they were alive.

Hospitals appealed for blood donations. Buses were pressed into service as ambulances.

The blasts killed at least 173 people and injured more than 600, Acebes said.

Rescue workers were overwhelmed, said Enrique Sanchez, an ambulance driver who went to Santa Eugenia station, about six miles southeast of Atocha.

“There was one carriage totally blown apart. People were scattered all over the platforms. I saw legs and arms. I won’t forget this ever. I’ve seen horror.”

Arnold Otegi, leader of Batasuna, an outlawed Basque party linked to the armed separatist group, denied it was behind the blasts and suggested “Arab resistance” elements were responsible.

The attack traumatised Spain on the eve of an election.

The campaign was largely dominated by separatist tensions in regions like the Basque country, with both the ruling conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists ruling out talks with ETA.

But the Socialists came in for withering criticism because a politician linked to the Socialist-run government in the Catalonia region, which also has separatist sentiment, admitted meeting with ETA members in France in January.

The Socialists were lambasted as allegedly undermining Spain’s fight against ETA.

Shards of twisted metal were scattered by rails in the Atocha station at the spot where an explosion severed a train in two.

“I saw many things explode in the air. I don’t know. It was horrible,” said Juani Fernandez, 50, a civil servant who was on the platform waiting to go to work.

“People started to scream and run, some bumping into each other and as we ran there was another explosion. I saw people with blood pouring from them, people on the ground,” Fernandez said.

It was the worst terrorist attack ever in Spain.

The deadliest attack blamed on ETA so far came in a Barcelona supermarket explosion in 1987. It killed 21 people.

Spanish officials had said ETA was against the ropes following the arrest last year of more than 150 members or collaborators in Spain and France, including the leaders of ETA’s commando network.

Last year ETA killed three people, compared to 23 in 2000 and 15 in 2001.

No arrests were reported today. France, long a haven for ETA members and key in helping Spain fight the group, said it tightened border checks, stopping people on foot and search cars.

The government convened anti-ETA rallies nationwide for tomorrow evening and announced three days of mourning.