Two car bombs explode in two Basque towns injuring eleven people

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Basque police station in Ondarroa was seriously damaged. Photo: EFE

Basque armed group ETA attacked with two car bombs the basque towns of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Ondarroa, injuring eleven people in the last one, three police officers were among those injured.

A spokeswoman for the regional delegation of the ministry says the first explosion happened in the early minutes of Sunday. A telephone warning by a person claiming to speak on behalf of the armed Basque group ETA was made to local police at around 11:15 p.m., giving enough time to evacuate and cordon off the area, the spokeswoman says.

A nearby restaurant had to be cleared, she says, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because government rules forbid her name to be published.

A big car bomb exploded near the office of Caja Vital bank in the Basque Country capital of Vitoria. None of those hurt was in serious condition although the bomb badly damaged nearby buildings. The bombers parked near the police station entrance before activating the device, the spokesman told Reuters. "They threw a Molotov cocktail to get the police officers attention and make sure they had them right in target", he said.

Basque regional official Javier Balza said the car had 100 kilos of explosives packed in its in its boot.

The building damaged by the blast was opened almost a year ago, on September 26th in 2007 by the Prince and Princess from Asturias and Basque PM Juan Jose Ibarretxe.

Seven people injured

The second car bomb exploded with no previous warning at around 04:30 in the early morning in front of a police station in the Basque town of Ondarroa (Biscay), as Interior department informed Basque government.

Police had cordoned off the area in Vitoria before the first explosion, after receiving a warning call in the name of Basque rebels ETA but there was no call before the second blast.

As a result, seven people were injured, among them three Basque policemen and eight passes by who were taken to the nearby hospitals of Galdakao and Gurutzeta. None of those hurt was in serious condition, although the bomb badly damaged nearby buildings.

As eitb24.com was informed, eyewitnesses assured that the blast caused serious material damage.