At least 173 killed in Madrid rail blasts

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 11, 2004

At least 173 killed in Madrid rail blasts

The death toll from a series of rush-hour rail bombings in Madrid on Thursday has reached 173, while more than 592 people were injured, the Interior Ministry said.

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The death toll from a series of rush-hour rail bombings in Madrid on Thursday has reached 173, while more than 592 people were injured, the Interior Ministry said.

Pedro Calvo, the Madrid regional government's security affairs chief said earlier that at least 131 people were killed in the four blasts just three days before Spain's general elections. But he added the figure was not definitive and could be significantly higher.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks but authorities blamed the attacks on Basque separatist group ETA which is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.

Arnaldo Otegi, leader of the radical Basque separatist party Batasuna which has close links with ETA, said he "refused to believe" that ETA was responsible for the bombings.

In the first attack of the year blamed on ETA, bombs exploded around 7:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) in a commuter train arriving at Atochastation, a bustling hub for subway, commuter and long-distance trains in the Spanish capital.

Blasts also rocked trains or platforms at two stations on a commuter line leading to Atocha. The government said there were four blasts altogether.

The explosion caused massive panic. Police resorted to using taxis to take the injured to hospitals as insufficient ambulances were available. Hospitals were struggling to cope with the huge influx of bomb victims and appealed for blood donations.

The death toll will make Thursday's explosions the worst ever in decades of attacks by ETA. All political parties suspended their campaigns for Sunday's elections after the bombings.

The campaign has been largely dominated by separatist tensions in regions like the Basque in northern Spain, with both the rulingconservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists ruling out talks with ETA which has waged a violent three decade-long campaign for independence that has claimed more than 850 lives.

Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar convened an emergency cabinet meeting following the explosion and the government declared a three-day period of mourning for the victims.

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