MADRID, 12 March 2004 — Less than an hour after a series of coordinated blasts ripped through four Madrid trains, hundreds of people lined up at a mobile center to donate blood for the victims. “This is just butchery,” said ambulance man Enrique Sanchez, one of the first to arrive at the scene.
Rescue services appealed for blood donations to cope with the flood of injured as horrified onlookers, some of whom were injured in the blasts, watched scenes of carnage and utter desolation unfolding before their eyes. Some donors gathered on Madrid’s Puerta Del Sol square waved leaflets proclaiming “ETA No”, a reference to the Basque separatist group ETA which Spanish authorities have blamed for the carnage.
“It’s the worst terrorist attack in Spanish history. I am grief-stricken but also outraged. Those who did this are vultures,” said a regular blood donor who was on his way to work when he heard the news and rushed to the mobile blood center here.
“I have been waiting for two hours but I will wait as long as necessary,” said Pablo Zavala, a 34-year-old economist. “I came from work when I saw how serious the attack was. My heart goes out to the wounded. I hope my donation will help. I can’t understand how people can commit such atrocities.”
Later a police patrol blared out the following appeal through loudspeakers: “This is police. Thanks to your help, we have collected enough blood. We will need more blood in the coming days.”
