10 Bombs Shatter Trains in Madrid, Killing 192

Thursday, March 11, 2004
By Elaine Sciolino

New York Times Writer

Most of the victims were ordinary middle- and working-class people and university students commuting into Madrid, though children were also among the dead. Spanish authorities immediately pointed to the Basque group ETA, which has been seeking independence for more than three decades. "It is absolutely clear that the terrorist organization ETA was seeking an attack with wide repercussions," Interior Minister Ángel Acebes told a hastily called news conference. But later, he was less categorical, after investigators found the van with the detonators and the Koran tape.

The attacks on Madrid's busiest commuter train stations came at the height of rush hour.

Image Credit: The New York Times

MADRID -- NYT
Ten bombs ripped through four commuter trains in Madrid during the morning rush hour on Thursday, killing at least 192 people and wounding more than 1,400 in the deadliest terrorist attack on a European target since World War II.

[The Associated Press reported that the death toll rose overnight from 192 to 198, quoting deputy Justice Minister Rafael Alcala, who said 84 bodies remain to be identified.]

The Spanish authorities initially blamed the Basque separatist group ETA. But after finding a van near Madrid with detonators and a tape of Koran verses, they held open the possibility of Islamic terrorism.

A group claiming links to Al Qaeda took responsibility for the attacks in a letter delivered to an Arabic newspaper, but an American counterterrorism official said the claim should be viewed skeptically.

Spain, an American ally in the war on Iraq, has 1,300 troops stationed there and was explicitly threatened in an audiotape last October reportedly made by Osama bin Laden.

As the country struggled to absorb the devastation, three days before general elections, Prime Minister José María Aznar said, "March 11 now has its place in the history of infamy."

(More: NYTimes.com / International)

2004 © The New York Times Company.

Dan