Terrorist hell in Madrid: 192 dead and 1,400 injured

Interior investigates Al Qaeda trail without ruling out ETA

Dozens of injured people remain next to the tracks moments after abandoning the train that suffered the attack near the Atocha station

Four synchronized terrorist attacks, in which 10 of the 13 explosive devices planted exploded, caused a massacre yesterday on Madrid commuter trains. At least 190 people died and more than 1,400 were injured in the largest terrorist attack in the history of Spain and one of the bloodiest in Europe. The bombs exploded after 7:30 a.m. at the Atocha station and nearby, at Santa Eugenia station and at the Pozo del Tío Raimundo stop when tens of thousands of citizens were heading to work. The Ministry of the Interior reported that its main line of investigation is ETA, but did not rule out the trail of Al Qaeda after the discovery in Alcalá of a tape with verses from the Koran and detonators in a stolen van.

Ten explosions in four commuter trains spread terror

Police find detonators and a tape with verses from the Koran in Alcalá

The King expresses his “rejection and indignation”

Rajoy and Zapatero ask for the unity of the Democrats

The parties suspend the electoral campaign and join the demonstrations called today throughout Spain

11-M

Yesterday's date will be marked in black in the memory of Spaniards and Europeans: the almost two hundred dead and more than a thousand injured caused by the Madrid attacks represent the largest terrorist massacre in Spain, and the most far-reaching catastrophe recorded. in the capital since the Civil War. This country has just experienced terrorism of hitherto unknown dimensions and cruelty. The possibility that it is the work of Al Qaeda and that it is related to the role played by the Aznar Government in the Iraq war introduces a novelty that cannot fail to sow deep concern.

EL PAÍS

Infamy. Slaughter. Hell. Terror. Barbarism. The words that the newspapers use to define the terrorist attacks that yesterday sowed chaos in Madrid give an idea of the magnitude of the tragedy. But nothing like the photographs on the covers. Bodies of young people destroyed among the remains of the carriages and emergency personnel caring for the injured on the train tracks illustrate the front pages of the Spanish and European press in one of the saddest days in our history.

EL MUNDO opens its cover with a headline in enormous characters: «The day of infamy.» «Almost 200 dead and more than 1,400 injured in the quadruple attack against commuter train passengers. The Government finds a van with detonators and verses from the Koran after accusing ETA 'without a doubt'. The newspaper claims that «an e-mail claims 'Operation Trains of Death' for Al Qaeda, while recalling that the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States do not grant credibility to the alleged statement.

In his editorial “Our 9/11” he believes that “Madrid was that Manhattan yesterday: the same faces of desolation, the spontaneous solidarity of the citizens, the paralyzed traffic, the collapsed hospitals, the incomprehension in the furtive glances. A city devastated by pain. „There are no words to repudiate an act as monstrous as the placement of these bombs that have claimed nearly 200 human lives.“

El País, for its part, states on its front page „Terrorist hell in Madrid: 192 dead and 1,400 injured.“

ABC opts for the headline „200 people murdered in a terrorist massacre in Madrid.“

La Razón highlights „All united against terror.“

Gara also carries a preview of his editorial on the cover in which he describes yesterday's attacks as an „unacceptable barbarity, regardless of their authorship,“ and considers that „indiscriminately attacking public transportation, at rush hour and with full will to “Committing the greatest number of deaths is an inhuman act for which there is no justification.»

The Basque newspapers of the Vocento group, El Correo and Diario Vasco, consider that «the citizens of Madrid yesterday became the target of one of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in history», and add that «the challenge that terrorism launched to the society and the institutions of democratic Spain, forces them to relentlessly combat fanaticism.

Deia establishes a similarity between the Al-Qaeda attacks against the Twin Towers in New York and yesterday's attacks in Madrid, and says that „another cursed eleventh day — with inevitable memory for the massacre of the Twin Towers, that 9/11 2001 — marked by the terrorist action, which this time turned Madrid into a scene of death and horrifying desolation“, as well as predicting that „the atrocity committed in the capital of the State will radically change the state political panorama, with special impact on Euskadi“.

La Vanguardia states on its front page „11-M in Madrid“, „Almost 200 dead and 1,400 injured in the largest terrorist massacre in Europe“, „Four crowded commuter trains explode early in the morning“, „Al Qaeda vindicates the massacre, although internally ETA points out“, „The electoral campaign closes two days before as a sign of mourning“, „Twelve Bomb backpacks“, „Ifema, a great funeral home“, and „Commotion in the world stock markets due to the attack“. In its editorial, titled „Terror without limits“, the Catalan newspaper assures that in the next few hours terrible stories of destroyed families will be known, and the entire society must turn to the families of the deceased, now and in the future.

The Periódico de Catalunya agrees with La Vanguardia in the headline, and in very large characters it states „192 dead, 1,430 injured“, and adds that Al Qaida claims responsibility for the attack in London. The editorial „A before and after 3/11“ points out that „in a country that has suffered so much from terrorist barbarity, yesterday we surpassed all the limits of horror with a carnage so infamous that it will mark a before and after“.

AVUI headlines „Barbarism“ and as subtitles it states „A chain of bomb attacks on Madrid commuter trains cause almost 200 deaths and more than 1,400 injuries in the second worst terrorist action in Europe“ and „The Al-Qaida network takes credit for “the authorship of the attack, although the Ministry of the Interior maintains ETA as the 'main hypothesis'.» For the editorial of this newspaper, the chain of attacks in Madrid breaks all the schemes in which our coordinates have moved until now, and says that, if as it seems, ETA is not responsible, yesterday's massacre establishes a before and a after.