Last Updated: Friday, 2 April, 2004, 14:54 GMT 15:54 UK
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
Bomb found on Spanish rail track
Spanish civil guards inspected the area after the device was found
Spanish police have found an explosive device on a high-speed railway between Madrid and Seville, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.
Traffic on the line was halted after the discovery at Mocejon, in the Toledo area, Mr Acebes said.
A rail employee raised the alert after seeing a suspicious package on the line half an hour outside Madrid and at least 10 trains have been halted.
Spain's rail system is particularly busy ahead of the Easter holidays.
Spain was rocked by a series of bombs on passenger trains in Madrid on 11 March which killed 191 and injured hundreds.
Police are pursuing suspected Islamic militants for those attacks.
Bomb disposal experts have found between 10 and 12kg (22-24lb) of an explosive resembling dynamite under the line about 60km (40 miles) south of Madrid, Mr Acebes said.
The explosives were connected to a detonator with a 130m cable.
Mr Acebes gave no further details about the bomb, but unnamed investigators quoted by the Spanish news agency Efe said first indications suggested that it was the same explosive as that used in the 11 March bombings.
The minister did not say if the bomb bore the hallmarks of any particular group.
The train bombs in March killed 191 people
"As we get information regarding those possibly responsible or details that move the investigation forward, we will give them to you," Mr Acebes told reporters.
The BBC's Katya Adler reports from Madrid that passengers from the trains affected have been evacuated onto buses.
Trains and motorways are packed across the country at this time as millions of families set off on their holidays, our correspondent says.
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
Bomb found on Spanish rail track
Spanish civil guards inspected the area after the device was found
Spanish police have found an explosive device on a high-speed railway between Madrid and Seville, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said.
Traffic on the line was halted after the discovery at Mocejon, in the Toledo area, Mr Acebes said.
A rail employee raised the alert after seeing a suspicious package on the line half an hour outside Madrid and at least 10 trains have been halted.
Spain's rail system is particularly busy ahead of the Easter holidays.
Spain was rocked by a series of bombs on passenger trains in Madrid on 11 March which killed 191 and injured hundreds.
Police are pursuing suspected Islamic militants for those attacks.
Bomb disposal experts have found between 10 and 12kg (22-24lb) of an explosive resembling dynamite under the line about 60km (40 miles) south of Madrid, Mr Acebes said.
The explosives were connected to a detonator with a 130m cable.
Mr Acebes gave no further details about the bomb, but unnamed investigators quoted by the Spanish news agency Efe said first indications suggested that it was the same explosive as that used in the 11 March bombings.
The minister did not say if the bomb bore the hallmarks of any particular group.
The train bombs in March killed 191 people
"As we get information regarding those possibly responsible or details that move the investigation forward, we will give them to you," Mr Acebes told reporters.
The BBC's Katya Adler reports from Madrid that passengers from the trains affected have been evacuated onto buses.
Trains and motorways are packed across the country at this time as millions of families set off on their holidays, our correspondent says.
