Madrid airport explosion - 12/30/06
 

I'm so sorry to hear this. No link available yet.

Link in Spanish to El Pais:
http://tinyurl.com/ylqr7z

Maybe, given that there was a warning in advance, this is "just" a Basque separatist-sponsored explosion, rather than an Islamist terror group.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/eu.../madrid.blast/

Just the common or garden terrorist explosion

I think there are two policemen slightly injured, but no other casualties. (I'm not saying this is accurate, but it was posted a few minutes ago somewhere.)

wow. haven´t turned on the radio or t.v. yet today. thanks for posting.

shame my mom has to read that before flying there tomorrow.!!

i am interested in our government´s (spain) repsonse to this one.

Link in English
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12370493/
ETA (Basque Separatist Group) claims responsibility

Here's the CNN link; apparently the authorities had time to evacuate the terminal affected and the others are operating "notmally."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe...ast/index.html

It's little more than just a common terrorists. ETA is claiming responsibility, but it does not mean they didn't want to hurt more people.

According to a well connected friend in Madrid, the arrival hall is heavily damaged as 5 floors of the parking garage have collapsed.

It's unconfirmed at the moment, but he's usually a good source.

Hi there,

It was ETA, a "nice" way to show that they are still around.
A young guy is still missing, he had dropped his girlfriend at the arrivals to pick someone coming on an early flight, and then parked right by the van with the bomb.

I spoke with some friends in Madrid this afternoon, and all of them had heard the explosion and saw the smoke ( Lin, I´m talking about people living in Sanchinarro and Las Tablas).

I am heading back to Madrid late on New Year´s Eve, and I am supposed to land at the T4, so I´ll see how it is everything. Flights are supposed to be only disrupted at T4 ( Iberia, BA, Vueling ...) and not at all at T1 and T2 ( Lufthansa, AF, Easyjet ...).

Rgds, Cova

Ps. Corrections, there are two people missing.
EL MUNDO - http://tinyurl.com/yk8cvs

This from the BBC: the Basque separatist group Eta have carried out a car bomb attack at a Madrid airport ending a ceasefire, the Spanish government has announced.

At least four people were injured in the blast in the car park of terminal four at Barajas Airport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6219431.stm

We just check CNN + for the latest. T4 was evacuated and all flights cancelled. 2 dead. 3 floors of parking lot C collapsed.

This is so sad. This guy the one with the kind of shoe name has got it wrong on both counts.

Two persons are still missing, thought to have been asleep in their car in the parking garage while awaiting the early morning arrival of a family member.

As usual, ETA "phoned in" the bomb placement before its detonation and the police then executed a "controlled detonation" although it still destroyed the entire parking garage and all the cars in it.

Inbound/Outbound travel to all terminals is back on schedule now but the parking situation at the new Terminal 4 is complicated.

Note that the explosion did not take place in any of the teminals nor on/near any planes. Still, a terrorist attack - no matter who's responsible - is still terrorist attack and should be taken seriously - although you'd hardly notice by asking the people on the street who tend to not have any tinge of fear in their voices. I really admire the Spanish people for this. There's a bomb blast one day and the next day it's nearly business-as-usual. They're a resilient people.

Saludos, BarcelonaMan/MadridMan
--
Barcelona Spain and MORE @ you-know-where

Two people are still missing, there was an advice by the terrorists but the explotion was about 30 minutes before than expected, so it was not controled by the police but by the terrorists. They were two Ecuatorians who were sleeping for a while in their cars (waiting for the arrival of their relatives from Ecuador).

Police sources told that between 500 and 800 Kilos were used in the blast, the highest amount of explosives in ETA history in a single attack.

I just want to add a point...
Many media say "ETA (Basque Separatist Group) claims responsibility", we HAVE TO COMPLAIN because we cannot say "Separatist Group" when, in fact, they are criminals, terrorists (as AlQaeda members are) and many other adjectives I refuse to use. They are responsible for almost 1000 deads in 40 years of terror.

I completely agree with Josemacall. I don't understand why media around the world keep referring to ETA as "separatists" instead of terrorists which is all they are.

On another note, Zapatero's televised statement after the bombing has been shamefully weak, not to mention his TV address the night before the bombing, in which he boasted that things were going swell on the terrorist front.

maybe the spaniards should go chant in front of the socialist party offices and say "we want the TRUTH!"

heavens knows what the terrorists got P'O'd about during the president's speech the day before.

but they sure "showed them(us)".

Not re-arming? wow. pretty bad calculations.

yes.. they are nothing but murderers.

i think we would all vote for giving them a little separate island somewhere.

in the meantime.. this is not a battle ground, and hopefully they have made their point for the year.

time will tell.

"yes.. they are nothing but murderers."

What complete nonsense.

They're lots of other things including threats to Spain's political system, friends of other terrorists and recipients of funds.

And fighting them requires understanding them, what they're campaigning for and how they operate.

Insisting they (or their chums in Ireland) always be called terrorists, murderers or green-eyed Martians gets no-one anywhere. It's just inverted Political Correctness - just as fatuous as nonsense like "herstory" or "mentally challenged".

Calling them separatists is - in most cases - the simple truth. It no more implies approval than calling them Basques.

And it's not the job of a news organisation to convey approval or disapproval anyway.

You got the point lincasanova & Eric_S...

"...we would all vote for giving them a little separate island somewhere...IN HELL"

Nobody must forget who Mr. ShoeMaker (Zapatero) friends are... Hugo Chaves, Evo Morales, Fidel Castro, some terrorists as ERC, Eta, and many more.

He's being lying for years:
- We haven't talk with terrorist before taking the Goverment (but meatings are reported since Popular Party was ruling the former Goverment)
- There is no re-arming (after 350 guns were stolen by ETA in France)
- There is no violent activity (while almost 260 attacks have been reported, including burned coaches in streets while they were working)
- He called last 28th the murdered people by ETA in the last years "MORTAL ACCIDENTS" instead of victims of terrorism (12/28 in Spain is a day for jokes, day of the innocents).

What a bad joker he is.

Please, let's remove that clown (my deepest respects for all clowns out there).

I hadn't read what flannruk said. But it is as simple as go to the dictionary and look for:
A person who kills others, is a MURDERER.
A person who causes terror is a TERRORIST.

What if I call Al Qaeda members "fighters of Alah"? Ah, I see, noway man.

We all understand perfectly clear what those terrorists of ETA are looking for.

You cannot forget that not all the separatists are terrorists, and of caurse, there are political parties that claims for independence, but within democratic ways. So I refuse to use the word "independist" because I'll be insulting all the independists that are not terrorist.

Do you know what I mean? It's simple, isn't it?