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MADRID, SPAIN: "Ten terrorist bombs tore through trains and stations along a commuter line in Madrid during the height of morning rush hour yesterday, killing at least 192 people," Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said. The Interior Ministry said tests showed the explosives used in the attacks were a kind of dynamite normally used by ETA, which wants an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwest France. A source at Aznar's office said the explosives were a material called titadine, a kind of compressed dynamite found in a van bomb intercepted last month as it headed for Madrid. Officials blamed that attempt on ETA. But a US intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "it's too early to tell (who planted the bombs), we're not ruling anything out."

The bombs started exploding around 7.30 am (0630 GMT) 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 and platforms at two stations on a commuter line leading to Atocha. Worst hit was a double-decker train at the El Pozo station, where two bombs killed 70 people, fire department inspector Juan Redondo said. "It looked like a platform of death," he said, adding that one body had to be picked off the train station's roof. "I've never seen anything like it before. The recovery of the bodies was very difficult. We didn't know what to pick up." The bodies of the dead, some with their cellphones ringing unanswered as frantic relatives tried to contact them, were carried away by rescue workers. The wounded, faces bloodied, sat on curbs as buses were pressed into service as ambulances. The attack dwarfed the deadliest one blamed on ETA until now — 21 killed in a Barcelona supermarket explosion in 1987 — and shocked officials who had insisted recently that the group was against the ropes.

Last year, more than 150 members or collaborators of ETA were arrested 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. ETA often phones in warnings of attacks but this time it did not, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said. People in tears streamed away from Atocha station as rescue workers carried bodies covered in sheets of gold fabric. Hospitals appealed for blood donations. The blasts killed at least 190 people and injured more than 900, the Interior Ministry said. Spain held peace talks with ETA in the late 1980s and again in 1998 after the group declared a cease-fire that lasted 14 months. But this new round was stillborn, ETA resumed attacks and since then Aznar has insisted on crushing ETA with police measures. Rescue workers were overwhelmed, said Enrique Sanchez, an ambulance driver who went to Santa Eugenia station, about ten kilometres (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."

Anibal Altamirano, a 26-year-old survivor who was about to board a train at Atocha, said that people were stunned after the first blast. "After a second explosion, people dropped everything, bags and shoes and ran, many trampling on others," he continued. "People didn't know which way to go. Some even went into the train tunnels without thinking other trains could be coming." Acebes also noted that on February 29, police intercepted a Madrid-bjor attack," Acebes said. "The only thing that varies is the train station that was targeted." France in January. The Socialists were lambasted as allegedly undermining Spain's fight against ETA. No arrests were reported yesterday. 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 searched cars.