2009 Burgos bombing

2009 Burgos bombing
Part of the Basque conflict
The Civil Guard Barracks in Burgos after the attack.
LocationBurgos, Spain
Date29 July 2009
4:30 – (UTC+2)
TargetCivil Guard barracks
Attack type
van bomb
Deaths0
Injured65

A van bomb carrying more than 300 kg of explosive went off on 29 July 2009 outside a Civil Guard barracks in the northern city of Burgos, Spain, injuring at least 65 people. The attack was blamed on Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).[1] Several children were among the 65 wounded in the attack.

Some days before the attack, Spanish police warned that the organization might be trying a series of van bomb attacks[2] after they found information of three vans being carried to Spain in a document seized from arrested members Asier Borrero, Itziar Plaza and Iurgi Garitagoitia a few weeks before the attack.[3][4]

Occurrence

About 120 people, one-third of them children, were sleeping in the building when the bomb went off at around 4:00 am local time (0200 UTC), blowing off most of its facade. The blast also left a two-metre (six-foot) deep crater in the street outside the barracks and heavily damaged the 14 storey residential complex and other buildings in the area.[5]

Aftermath

The day after the bombing, a car bomb explosion on the island of Majorca killed two civil guards, Carlos Sáenz de Tejada García, 28, and Diego Salva Lezaun, 26. The two attacks came few hours before the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the organization.

References

  1. ^ "300 kilos de explosivo para causar una masacre en la casa cuartel de Burgos" (in Spanish). El Mundo. July 29, 2009. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  2. ^ "Intentan localizar otras dos furgonetas listas para atentar" (in Spanish). El Correo. July 29, 2009. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  3. ^ "Spain: Warning, searching for two ETA car bombs". AGI. July 29, 2009. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  4. ^ "Buscan otras dos furgonetas que ETA podría utilizar para nuevos atentados" (in Spanish). 20minutos.es. July 29, 2009. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
  5. ^ "Dozens injured in Spain car bomb blast". The Guardian. 2009-07-29. Archived from the original on 2021-11-01.

42°21′23″N 3°41′36″W / 42.35639°N 3.69333°W / 42.35639; -3.69333