Spain

One dead, four hurt in Spanish bombing blamed on ETA

Article published on the 2008-05-14 Latest update 2008-05-15 12:55 TU

The civil guard barracks in Legutiano after the attack
(Photo: Reuters)

A bomb exploded in a van parked outside a civil guard barracks on Wednesday in the Basque country of Spain, killing one guard and and wounding four others. The government blamed the paramilitary separatist group ETA for the "horrific attack". Some 29 people were sleeping inside the barracks that house police and their families when the bomb detonated around 3 am.

"ETA has taken another step with this horrific attack," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told reporters, saying that the siginificant amount of explosives used mirrored the ETA bombing in August 2007 that injured two guards.

"They were thinking of carrying out a massacre," he added. Parts of the roof were blown off in the impact of the blast.

The victim of the explosion has been identified as Juan Pinuel Villalon, a 41-year-old father of one who had been stationed at the Legutiano village barracks for just a month. His body had to be dug out from under the rubble as well as one of the four injured, according to local officials.

The injured were brought to two hospitals in Vitoria, the Basque capital. One is undergoing surgery but none of their lives are in danger.

Rubalcaba said that the people suspected of setting off the attack fled in a stolen car, which was found later in the nearby town of Abadino.

If this is in fact an ETA attack, it will be the sixth death caused by the armed group since it broke a ceasefire in December 2006.

ETA has been waging an armed struggle for independence from Spain for the past four decades. It has been blamed for 820 bombings and shootings.