MADRID, 11 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
On March 11, 2004, ten almost simultaneous explosions that occurred on four commuter trains in Madrid triggered the largest terrorist attack in Europe, with 192 fatalities and more than 2,000 injured.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, this chronology reviews the events of that day, through teletypes, photos, videos and maps, as they were narrated on that day from Europa Press with the information available at all times.
07:37 hours: three bombs explode on train 21431 on track 2 inside Atocha. The train had left at 07:01 from the Alcalá de Henares station bound for the Alcobendas-San Sebastián de los Reyes station.
07:38 hours: two bombs explode on train 21435 at El Pozo Station. It had left the Alcalá de Henares station, at 07:10, coming from Guadalajara, bound for the Alcobendas-San Sebastián de los Reyes station.
07:38 hours: a bomb explodes on train 21713 at the Santa Eugenia Station. It had left the Alcalá de Henares station at 07:14 bound for the Príncipe Pío station.
07:39 hours: four bombs explode on train 17305 on Téllez Street. Destined for the Chamartín station, it had left the Alcalá de Henares station at 07:04.
The first information about the attack speaks of several consecutive explosions recorded at Madrid’s Atocha station and cites several eyewitnesses and a spokesperson for Emergencies Madrid.
At that time of the morning there was already talk, from the scene of the attacks, of at least fifty injured and an undetermined number of dead and police sources were cited.
Signature: Eduardo Parra / Europa Press
Immediately after the explosion occurred, a journalist from the agency stationed in the area was able to see how pedestrians helped the injured to sit on the street and provide them with assistance and how SAMUR transported the injured in municipal police vans and in private cars located nearby.
“The Community of Madrid, through the Ministry of Health, has today made an urgent call to the citizens of Madrid to come and donate blood in anticipation of the needs that may arise due to the attacks that occurred this morning.”
Signature: Eduardo Parra / Europa Press
“Official sources from the Ministry of the Interior have put the death toll at 62 as a result of the three explosions that occurred in Madrid this morning,” states the information published at that time.
The Police estimate that there may be more than 100 dead: “The Police estimate that in the attacks that occurred this morning in Madrid, more than 100 people may have died, as police sources informed Europa Press. In previous estimates , the cited sources estimated the number of deaths at around 60, although other sources already spoke of 120 and 130 deaths.
Otegi does not believe that ETA is responsible for the attacks: “The spokesman for the banned Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi, said today that he does not think ‘even as a hypothesis’ that ETA was responsible for the Madrid attacks and pointed out the possibility that it is ‘an operation by sectors of the Arab resistance'”.
Signature: Eduardo Parra / Europa Press
The number of deaths increases to 173, at that time it is estimated
– Atocha Station: 30 dead
– El Pozo del Tío Raimundo: 67 dead
– Santa Eugenia Station: 17 dead
– Téllez Street: 59 dead
The number will increase throughout the day
The Minister of the Interior, Angel Acebes, assures in a press conference that the Government “has no doubt” that the perpetrators of the attacks that occurred this morning in Madrid belong to the terrorist group ETA. To the specific question of whether there was any possibility that the explosions were caused by Islamic terrorists, Acebes said bluntly: “The Government has no doubt that ETA is behind it.”
The Spanish Confederation of Tourist Hotels and Apartments, and in its name Jesús Gatell as president of the Madrid Hotel Association, offers its facilities to all those affected by the attacks perpetrated this morning in Madrid. Gestures like this are repeated throughout the day.
Signature: Eduardo Parra / Europa Press
Police sources report that the backpacks they made were made up of between ten and fifteen kilos of explosives.
Signature: Eduardo Parra / Europa Press
“A total of 186 people dead and more than 1,000 injured are the latest unofficial figures of victims of the attacks that occurred today in Madrid, provided at 3:00 p.m. today by the rescue teams working at the site of the explosions.”
Sources from judicial sources and from the police teams deployed to the scene of the events explain that the terrorists responsible for the attacks intended to detonate six of the bombs placed on two of the attacked trains at the same time at the Atocha station, as reported.
The same sources indicate that, according to the first investigations, the bombs placed on the trains whose explosive charges exploded at the Atocha station and in the vicinity of Téllez Street, were scheduled to explode at the same time inside the Atocha station. Atocha, to achieve a multiplying effect of the shock wave that would destroy the facilities and cause their collapse.
Signature: Eduardo Parra / Europa Press
An agency teletype describes the mourning experienced at that time: “Citizens remain glued to their radios or televisions, and traffic was reduced by more than 50 percent between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.: 00 hours.
Madrid residents did not want to leave their homes or their workplaces, and transport did not support either: Metro lines cut, suspension of several train services and security reinforcements at bus stations. In addition, several devices exploded by the CEDAX and bomb warnings.”
Signature: Eduardo Parra / Europa Press
Many Madrid residents go to the doors of official headquarters to observe a minute of silence for the victims, and many return to their homes or workplaces without exchanging a word. The flags of all institutions fly at half-mast and will continue to do so during the three days of mourning decreed throughout the country.
The Government calls a demonstration for the following day with the motto ‘with the victims, with the Constitution and against terrorism’. The main political parties are joining in and great citizen participation is expected: the Madrid Business Confederation has decided to close businesses to make it easier for its workers to attend the demonstration.
00:00 hours | THAT DAY 192 PEOPLE DIED
Ultimately, 192 people died in the attacks.
— 34 perished in the Atocha convoy
— 63 in front of Téllez Street
— 65 at the Pozo del Tío Raimundo station
— 14 in Santa Eugenia
— 16 in different hospitals
— The last of them was recognized in 2014 after spending a decade in a coma.
In addition, the explosions injured 2,084 travelers. Almost a hundred people were left with a high degree of physical disability that, in many cases, disqualified them from working for life.
