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Dazed survivors, their faces streaked with blood, stumbled past bodies strewn along railway platforms and tracks yesterday as four bomb blasts sowed carnage among Madrid commuters, killing more than 198 people and wounding 1,240, according to Spain's Interior Ministry."The coach behind mine was packed with bodies. Some people were burnt in their seats," said one passenger, Antonio Villacanas after the coordinated blasts ripped through four trains at three Madrid stations. He was among the horrified early morning commuters at southwestern Santa Eugenia station who were picking their way past bodies and the injured as the terrifying morning rush-hour events unfolded before their eyes.
"Just a few minutes after we set off we felt a strong jolt and the lights went off. There was total confusion in my carriage. People didn't know what was going on and we couldn't open the doors," he said. "It was horrible. After the explosion people hurled themselves to the floor. There were dead and injured lying all around," said a student, Isabel Vega. Renfe, Spain's national rail carrier, spoke of two blasts at Atocha while explosions struck two other southwestern stations Pozo and Santa Eugenia, where witnesses spoke of chaos with dozens of blood-soaked people running around in panic. At Atocha, a large commuter station in southwest central Madrid, police and emergency services said at least 400 people had been injured in the explosion. "There were people like me going to school. It was a strange sensation. I can't explain the feeling, dead people all around," said one young student at Atocha station. "As we came into the station things suddenly went back and the room fell in on me. I jumped onto the platform. But I'm fine – compared to many others." The main Atocha blast occurred at 0630 GMT on a packed high-speed train, derailing carriages which lay spreadeagled across the track as rescuers gingerly tried to lift out survivors. Survivors left the station, some assisted by rescuers and firefighters, others able to walk away on their own. Many had had their clothes cut from their bodies to assist rapid treatment of their injuries. Spanish TV showed one woman beside herself with grief as she raged at "the bastards" who had carried out the attacks. Another passenger, Jose Garcia, spoke of a "dantesque and apocalyptic scene". "I saw a baby torn to bits," said Ana Maria Mayor, a train passenger, her voice cracking. Ambulance driver Enrique Sanchez said at Atocha station that many people had facial wounds, amputated limbs and broken bones. "The train was cut open like a can of tuna... We didn't know who to treat first. There was a lot of blood, a lot of blood." One man sat in a state of shock, receiving oxygen. Others simply sat on the pavement, their head in their hands. Many were trembling and in tears. Rescuers transported some of the victims to a nearby gymnasium for further treatment from first aid teams, who rapidly moved on from one patient to the next as they struggled to keep pace with the scale of the disaster. Police carried out two controlled explosions on cars suspected of containing bombs. Police and firefighters also evacuated buildings adjacent to Atocha station fearing the possibility of more explosions. The Spanish government convened an emergency cabinet meeting. European stock markets fell sharply on fears the attack was the work of extremists. Some experts on ETA said the bombings did not fit ETA's profile for attacks. The guerrilla group has frequently phoned ahead to warn of its plans.
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