MOSCOW, July 29 (RIA Novosti) - A total of 65 people, including two pregnant women and six children, were injured when a bomb-laden truck exploded in the north Spanish city of Burgos early on Wednesday, El Mundo reported.
The blast went off at 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT) near a Civil Guard barracks. Most of the injured received cuts from broken glass, and about 49 were hospitalized. Emergency officials said it was extremely lucky that no one died in the attack.
The shock waves from the blast damaged several nearby buildings, forcing 118 people to be evacuated. The power of the car bomb has not been announced, but the vehicle is believed to be stuffed with at least 80 kg of explosives.
The militant Basque separatist organization ETA is believed to be behind the terrorist attack.
The country's security services said they were put on alert following a tipoff that ETA had attempted to transport to the Spanish territory three bomb-laden vehicles - a white Renault Kangoo, green Mercedes Vito and a white or green Citroen Berlingo.
Forensic investigators, who are currently trying to establish the type of vehicle that used in the attack, said the truck was completely destroyed, and that the remaining fragments were badly burnt.
ETA, founded in 1959, is recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States. The group is known to have killed over 820 people in the past 40 years while fighting for an independent Basque country.
Former Euronews editorial director Luis Rivas told RIA Novosti: "This was just a promotion action. Political activity in the summer has considerably decreased, and ETA just wanted to remind people about itself. This time, ETA did not warn the authorities about its action, although it usually does."
"This was evidently a display of power. Also, this Friday the organization will mark 50 years since its foundation. However cynical it may sound, I am not surprised at all by such explosions," he said, adding that new ones could be expected.
