# Horror in Madrid - Commuter train bombing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 11, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668 "2004-03-11T08:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/1 "2004-03-11T08:25:38Z")
News is still coming in; some sixty people are dead and more than 100 have been wounded in a string of bombings in commuter train stations in Madrid. ETA involvement is already being reported but as yet, no group has claimed responsibility as far as I can figure out. Police are advising people not to travel in Madrid. [http://www.elsemanaldigital.com/articulos.asp?idariculo=13735](http://www.elsemanaldigital.com/articulos.asp?idariculo=13735) ☹ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/2 "2004-03-11T08:52:50Z")
Sources here say the death toll is “at least thirty”. Not that it makes it any better, of course. ☹ Heard it in the car on the way to work. Had to check the web to see I heard it right. My goodness. [CNN Story](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/03/11/spain.blasts/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/3 "2004-03-11T09:12:09Z")
According to Irish reporters in Madrid the death toll is at least 70 and expected to rise. Horrifying stuff ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/4 "2004-03-11T09:28:55Z")
Probably ETA, but coordinated multiple attacks seems to be a hallmark of AQ. Whatever, it’s simply awful. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/5 "2004-03-11T09:38:33Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Probably ETA, but coordinated multiple attacks seems to be a hallmark of AQ. > > Whatever, it’s simply awful. ☹ Also, previous ETA attacks have not been known to the civilian population in this way. Could it have been AQ? ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/6 "2004-03-11T09:54:12Z")
…and lets not forget that the Spanish PM, Jose Maria Aznar, was right “up there” with Bush and Blair in attempting to get UN support for action against Saddam. [cite](http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/wire/030314a.asp) ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/7 "2004-03-11T10:18:06Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Probably ETA, but coordinated multiple attacks seems to be a hallmark of AQ. > > Whatever, it’s simply awful. ☹ 😕 Who/what’s ETA? AQ? I assume you’re talking about something/someone other than Estimated Time of Arrival or Automobile Quarterly. Please advise – I’m not stupid, just terribly, terribly ignorant. –SSgtBaloo “Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I have tested it.” – Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/8 "2004-03-11T10:24:30Z")
> [@legion](#): > > Also, previous ETA attacks have not been known to the civilian population in this way. Oh, they’ve attacked civilian targets before (e.g. the Barcelona supermarket in 1987). Last year they announced their intention to target the tourist industry, which inevitably means targetting _tourists_. I don’t see any reason they should be ruled out in this case, particularly given there’s an election imminent in Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/9 "2004-03-11T10:31:21Z")
Spanish police have foiled at least 2 ETA-planned train bombings in the last few months. The one in January was supposed to happen on two trains at the same time as well. I’d say the fingerprint is definitely ETA here, and not Al Queda. Baloo, ETA is a Basque separatist movement. [Read all about it.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3500728.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/10 "2004-03-11T10:32:09Z")
ETA: Euskadi ta Askatasuna, the Basque separatist movement. They want separation of the northern Basque region from the rest of Spain. AQ: Al-Quaeda (spellings vary). See 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/11 "2004-03-11T10:40:01Z")
The Spanish cops are saying ETA. In previous years, the Spanish public have been very united in expressing their horror (the mayoral assassination springs to mind). Could this atrocity set seperatists back further, politically, or could it serve to further their agenda through governmental fear? I am guessing the former. Major crackdown. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/12 "2004-03-11T11:18:59Z")
131 confirmed dead now. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/13 "2004-03-11T11:28:01Z")
[Eye witness reports](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/3500774.stm). ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/14 "2004-03-11T11:32:17Z")
I heard an eyewitness report on the radio news. It was horrendous. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/15 "2004-03-11T11:37:08Z")
Damn! How can anyone think that atrocities like this will help their cause? That sending so many people to an early grave will do anything but create hate. It just sickens me. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/16 "2004-03-11T11:52:25Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > Damn! How can anyone think that atrocities like this will help their cause? That sending so many people to an early grave will do anything but create hate. It just sickens me. Depends what the bastards were trying to achieve. If they wanted to suspend the election, [then they succeeded](http://news.google.com/url?ntc=0M0A0&q=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml%3Ftype%3DworldNews%26storyID%3D4545596%26section%3Dnews). Latest though: ETA has denied responsibility. I don’t recall any case in which they’ve done this before. They also usually phone in a warning - this time there was none. Spain was third fiddle in the Iraq war… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/17 "2004-03-11T12:21:10Z")
More than 170 now, says the Beeb. ☹ 173, says CNN. :mad: Fuckers. Has there ever been such a massive act of terrorism on European soil, I wonder? I mean, post-WWII? ---
**Author:** ![legion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@legion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legion)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/18 "2004-03-11T12:45:48Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > More than 170 now, says the Beeb. ☹ > 173, says CNN. :mad: > > Fuckers. Has there ever been such a massive act of terrorism on European soil, I wonder? I mean, post-WWII? Maybe not **on** but certainly **over** European soil. The Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 comes to mind, in which a total of 270 people were killed. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/19 "2004-03-11T12:46:32Z")
Absolutely horrible. I’ve got family in Spain and they’re alright - but terrified. This absolutely pisses me off to no extent. These guys are terrorists, not seperatists and 170+ families have to suffer for their shit. Horrible. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668/20 "2004-03-11T12:50:56Z")
> [@green\_bladder](#): > > These guys are terrorists, not seperatists Well, if it _was_ ETA (or another Basque group), then they’d be both. But it might not be - the Spanish government aren’t ruling anyone out. > [@](#): > > Horrible. Totally. 400+ hospitalised in addition to the 173 confirmed dead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horror-in-madrid-commuter-train-bombing/233668.md?page=2)